With One Look
by pegasus5406
Summary: This story is about what happens when Bella is turned by the same vampire that turned Carlisle. How she survives before and after her stay with Caius and the Volturi, and in the end, how she finally finds her true mate in Carlisle Cullen, and the circumstances during and after that happens. Rated:M for language and limited sexual scenes. Paring: (Caius/Bella/Carlisle)
1. Chapter 1

**With One Look**

 **Author: Peggy McDaniel McCombs**

 **Pairing; Caius/Bella/Carlisle**

 **Beta: Aunt Bran. Pre-reader: Silverfires**

 **Rating: M.**

 **Genre: Romance, Friendship and Angus**

 **Summary: This story is about what happens when Bella is turned by the same vampire that turned Carlisle. How she survives before and after her stay with Caius and the Volturi, and in the end, how she finally finds her true mate in Carlisle Cullen, and the circumstances during and after that happens.**

 **Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended**

 **Chapter 1**

My name is Isabella Marie Swan, and I was born in the year of our Lord 1678, on the 13 day of September in a town called Salem, Massachusetts. I was the only child of Charlie and Renée Swan. My father worked as a simple farmer to take care of our small family. He was a proud man and worked very hard to provide for us.

As my father plowed our land, my mother worked the stand at the town market that sold what little bit of vegetables we had left after canning . We didn't have much, but we made do.

When I was old enough I helped my father in the fields. My parents tried to bear a son to help my father but the time never came. After four miscarriages that almost killed my mother, they finally gave up, which left only me to help my father.

On top of helping my father as well as my mother, I still had chores to do at home. My mother complained at times to my father, about how it wasn't right for me to be working the fields. She would tell him, I would never find a beau as long as I worked my fingers to the nub with calluses. No matter how many times I scrubbed my hands, the stains from the mud wouldn't leave.

But there was nothing that could be done. My father needed the help, and I was the only one left to do the chores, without him hiring a man. There just weren't the funds to do such a thing.

I remember when things starting getting bad around the town. I had few friends, but there was one girl, Marcy Flannigan. I had talked to her on occasion; she wasn't my friend, but more of an acquaintance. I learned that this girl was very promiscuous.

She liked this boy in town who never showed her any affection, and as hard as she tried, he just wouldn't take notice of her. I could see the hatred brewing in her eyes every time he paid special attention to one of the girls in town known as Abigail Williams. I knew Marcy well enough to see that she was plotting something, but as much as I tried to get her to talk to me she wouldn't tell me what she was planning.

There were a few girls that she spent most of her time with, and when they were around Marcy I made myself scarce for they were just as devious as she was. I worried about what she had in mind; for every time she brought one of her schemes into play it usually ended badly for the person who was the object of her anger.

Gossip flew around the town about a witch hunt going on in London, England. I never really thought anything of it, because who would have believed in such a thing happening? It just couldn't be real. My father was irate at hearing such trash, drummed up by someone trying to cause more trouble among the villagers. " _Gossip is like fire, once it starts it takes hold and spreads fast and becomes hard to extinguish,"_ he would say.

We were in church one Sunday and I saw Marcy sitting with her usual group of girls, and they were whispering softly to one another. She turned, looking around the congregation, and once she found me and our eyes connected she gave me an evil smile. I didn't know what she was planning on doing, but that smile alone gave me a chill that ran up my spine, and I knew it wasn't going to be good.

It wasn't long before she stood up, followed by the other girls, and they began to scream and shake and throw themselves onto the floor. They were screaming things like-get them off of me it burns- or they would just scream to the parishioners for help. I don't have to tell you how that turned out, especially with all the talk of witches and such.

After the parishioners took them to the parsonage and calmed them down, they questioned them to find out what was happening to the girls. It was Marcy, my so called friend, who said that Abigail Williams had put a spell on them. She claimed that a boy that Abigail liked paid attention to her and became jealous, and due to her jealousy she placed a spell on them, naming her as a witch.

With all the gossip coming from England about witches and such, it set the town in a whirlwind. The governor sent for one of his Magistrates to oversee what was going on in our village, and was told to take care of things as he saw fit. And so it began.

My father saw red, and it took everything my mother had to stop him from going off on the town council. Once we arrived home he ranted and raved for hours over what was happening in our village.

"This is how it all starts - with gossip and spoiled children raving over petty jealousy, and then to make it worse those stupid naïve imbeciles who run the village, who by the way should know better, start to believe in all the gossip they've heard putting the village in an uproar, and it won't stop there," he explained angrily. "It will lead to worse things, things that with a single thought would make the strongest of men's blood run cold."

After things started to get worse my father was glad my mother had stepped in and stopped him from saying anything to the town council. He saw that if he had said anything at the time, or even now, that he as well as his family would likely be tried as witches.

We watched as good people were hanged, people we knew couldn't have done the things they were accused of. We saw people accusing others, even their own family, to save their own necks from the noose.

The homeless woman I saw hanging around the market, begging for food and shelter, became a victim of the witch hunt. People were dying left and right. My father began to worry, and went so far as to talk to one of his good friends who lived in the next town. When he came back, we secretly packed and waited for our time to leave this godforsaken place. All of this started over a jealous young girl using gossip that came from another country to start this debauchery. It sickened me.

It was the night Giles Corey refused to enter a plea when he came to trial in September, that the judges applied an archaic form of punishment called peine forte et dure, in which stones were piled on a door that was laid on his chest until he could no longer breathe. After two days of this torture, Corey died without entering a plea. That was when we left. We waited until just before dawn before setting out, taking only what we could carry.

My father had been saving money for months, since all this began, just in case we would have to flee for our lives. He decided if all this killing settled down he would just use the money he had saved to buy seeds for the spring planting, but if not…well, let's just say that it didn't.

There was a ship captain who hated the witch hunt across the country even more than my father. He offered to take a few of us, meaning those who thought the same as we did, to England. There were at least ten families that boarded that morning as we set sail for our new home.

It was dangerous for us to leave the Americas with all the witch hunts going on. If we were caught, we too would be tried for being witches, and for trying to flee from our destiny, which was death. .

Even when we arrived in England, we had to be careful, so the Captain docked in a small village not far from London, and leaving us with his best wishes he set sail again, hoping not to bring suspicion upon us.

It was bad enough that we were ten families, trying to find lodgings without arousing suspicion. So after leaving the ship we spread out, some walking to different villages and some going into London; we stayed here in this small town.

We stayed in an old abandoned shack at the end of town, hiding mostly until my father could find us a more permanent place to live. After a couple of days he found and paid for a little farm not too far from where we were hiding.

While in town my father had mentioned at the pub that he was looking to buy a small farm, but he didn't have a lot of money. One of the gentleman there sat down next to my father and told him he knew of a place, but it needed a lot of work. He thought he could get it for hardly anything , that the owner just wanted to be rid of it.

My father jumped at the chance and was introduced to the man. The man took a liking to my father and sold him the farm, for even less that he was told. My father was elated. He even saved enough to buy seeds to plant for the next season, which wouldn't be for a while yet. The man offered him a job on his farm until my father could plant his own crops.

We even had dinner at the man's house a few times. They were an older couple that never had any children. The woman fussed over me constantly, buying me clothes and things that she thought a young girl should have, but we couldn't afford.

My father complained, telling them they shouldn't spend their money so frivolously on me. The man, however, said not to fret, he had plenty, and at his age in this life he would never spend it all before he passed on to the next world. He insisted on letting his wife spoil me.

My father agreed, but told them not to overdo it, that spoiling a child could hurt more than help. They agreed, but still made sure I wanted for nothing. I wasn't the kind to want much anyway, so pleasantries wouldn't change me.

Years passed, as we let the past drift away into memories. My family became friendly with a lot of other families in this small town. The threat of the witch hunts had apparently ended. Some people still believed, not just in witches but in other supernatural creatures. I thought this was nothing, just something that sprang up from the tales of witches. But the gossip still hung in the air.

The pastor of the parsonage on the far side of town believed in such things, and everyone pretty much stayed away from him. Oh there was a few who believed in such things and stood at his side, but not many. I had heard that he had a son. I was also told he was very pleasing to the eye, but was warned to stay clear of him for he was as dangerous as his father.

I thought this was ridiculous, but my father still told me to stay clear of him - not only because he didn't want me or our family involved in that sort of mess again, but he didn't want my reputation spoiled. I think he still hoped I would marry well someday.

I agreed of course, for I didn't want to be around that kind of belief either. It scared the heck out of me when it happened in Salem, and I sure didn't want to go through that again.

It was early spring when news came that a spring fling was being planned. All the women in the town made their best dishes and the musician tuned their instruments getting ready for the dance that was about to happen at the community hall. The women sewed new dresses and curled their hair and bought new dancing shoes. The joyous day caused excitement in town.

The older woman, Grandma Jean, always bought everything I needed for all the occasions. My father scowled at buying new things for the dance, but allowed it when my mother convinced him. I didn't like it any more than he did, but I didn't have a dress that wasn't tattered and worn, and my shoes needed to be re-soled.

The evening of the dance I dressed and curled my hair, with my mother's help. I have to say I looked very pretty. I wasn't used to seeing myself in this state of dress. I actually felt like the woman I was. After helping my father tend to the fixing of the house, as well as working the farm, I looked more like a man than a woman at times.

My mother and father weren't going to the dance; they wanted time to themselves for a while, something they very seldom got. So I headed into town, to the dance at the community center. I could hear the music from a mile away, and it made me smile.

The building was bigger than most of the structures in town. It had marble pillars that held up the upper overhang of the roof, that matched the color of the building as the white stucco looked freshly painted. The molding around the many windows in the front was stylish, like something out of a French novel, very provincial.

I walked into the building and made my way through the barrage of people, finding a place I could stand and listen to the music as the band played. I danced in place, not moving my feet but swinging my hips to the beat of the music and enjoying myself immensely. I saw a few people I knew, but they were busy dancing and laughing with their beaus. I didn't want to be a third wheel so I just stood and watched, completely comfortable with my position.

Sure I've had many men come up to talk to me in the last few years, but my father would chase them off. It really didn't bother me much, because I hadn't really run into anyone I liked well enough to settle down with, and besides, I was happy helping out on the farm. Some would call me an old maid, I was twenty years old and had never been kissed, but it didn't bother me any.

I stood and clapped my hands together with the music as I looked around the room taking in all its splendor. The ceiling was high with a dome of glass in the center, where you could see the brightly shining stars that sparkled in the clear sky.

The room looked festive with banners, balloons, and streamers that crisscrossed each other. It was also painted in the same whitewash as the outside, and it looked like it belonged in the biggest town known to man. I was in awe of my surroundings.

I was watching the crowd as they enjoyed themselves, and it was then that I saw him. He sat at one of the tables across the dance floor watching the people as I was. He wore the most beautiful smile I had ever seen on a man. His hair was pulled back and tied at his neck as his long blond hair hung down his back. I don't think I've ever seen hair that color of blond in my life, but it took my breath away..

While I was looking at him he turned his head and stared directly into my eyes. I smiled and lowered my head. When I looked up at him again he was still watching me. When he gazed at me with his icy blue eyes it was almost as if he was looking straight into my soul. He was heartbreakingly handsome; I have never seen anyone like him before.

We both kept looking away from one another and when we caught each other staring we'd smile and look away again. I wondered who this man was.

After a while of staring at one another he rose from his seat, and I thought he might come over and talk to me, but instead he walked out the front door. I felt as though my heart was breaking in two when he left. I tried to enjoy the music and the fun people were having, but I just couldn't. So I decided to leave as well, and just return home.

As I shuffled through the couples I finally made it to the door and walked out. I stood on the wooden planks of the porch with my head down. I turned to begin my trek home when something caught my vision. I looked up and I saw the blond man standing in the road looking across at the wooded area beyond. His back was to me and I froze where I stood, waiting to see what he would do next.

He turned and began to walk down the street in the opposite direction that I was going in. He didn't go far before he turned and looked back, seeing me standing on the porch of the community center. He smiled and bowed his head. I waved at him as he smiled again and once again turned and kept walking.

I knew I shouldn't do it, but I couldn't stop myself. I began to follow him. I kept to the shadows and stayed far enough away so he wouldn't see me if he turned around.

I followed him to the other side of town where he passed a church and stopped right in front of a cottage that sat next door to it.

He looked down the road, and for a minute I thought he might have caught sight of me, but he sighed and his beautiful smile turn to a frown as he walked into the small cottage.

I made my way closer to the house hiding by the church in case he looked out the window and saw me. It was then I heard the yelling coming from the house. I ducked almost like it was meant for me and I was trying to get out of harm's way .

I realized that this was the house of the minister I had heard about, and this man I had been flirting with all evening was the boy I was told about that was pleasing to the eye. Well, they got that part right anyway, I thought to myself. He surely was beautiful.

It seemed it was the preacher doing all the yelling. He was yelling about how he wanted someone to go out and hunt and kill demons, and in hearing this I realized, these were the ones my family was told about. The ones I was supposed to stay away from because of their belief in other supernatural creatures. They were telling the truth. He did believe in demons, and he was yelling at who I presumed was the preacher's son wanting him to catch and kill demons.

I immediately felt sorry for this man. To live with someone so set on a belief to force his loved one to do his bidding, no matter the consequence, was ludicrous.

What he believed in might not be true, but he truly believed in this debauchery, and if he believed in it he was sending his son to his probable death-not caring if he lived or died. My heart broke for this poor man.

I heard the son tell his father that this was insane, that the only demons he knew of walked in Hell, not on this earth. He asked him why he would send him out to do such a ridiculous thing, that if he wanted him to go and talk to the sinners he would be honored, but to go roaming in the woods looking for demons was silly. He told him there were only bears and wolves in the woods, not demons.

I then heard his father tell him to do as he asked or leave his house for good. After saying this the house became silent, and the next thing I heard was the door opening and closing and the beautiful guy I flirted with earlier ran off into the woods. I watched him go and wondered if I should follow.

I realized if I did and someone saw me my reputation would be done for, but my curiosity wore heavy on my heart. I looked around and saw no one in sight, as I inched slowly across the road and walked up to the tree line.

I looked between the trees, spying to see what I could in the darkness, which was pretty much nothing. The moon was bright enough that I could make out the image of the guy who just ran into the woods, and I wished I knew his name.

He began to walk and I followed, trying to stay as quiet as I could and stay far enough away not to raise his suspicion . He walked for a while and then stopped, looking off deeper into the woods.

"Are you following me?" he asked as he turned, and I froze to my spot. I was caught. I blushed, probably brighter than I had ever done in my life, and lowered my head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude, I just wanted to talk to you," I told him, as I began to walk slowly toward him.

"You shouldn't be out here, it's dangerous…there are a lot of wild animals," he explained.

"Yeah, you're probably right, I'm sorry I bothered you," I said regretfully and turned to leave, but I stopped when I heard his voice again.

"You're not bothering me, I just don't want to see you hurt, and I'm sure if your father found out you were out here with me he'd probably shoot me and lock you in your room until you were forty," he said with that beautiful smile. I smiled back, nodding my head.

"You're probably right," I said, as I lowered my head again. It was quiet between us for a minute, and I continued. "I'd better go," I said, and as I started to turn around again he stopped me by asking me another question.

"What's your name?" he asked as I turned to face him once again.

"Isabella, but I liked to be called Bella."

"Well, Isabella, who likes to be called Bella," is all he got out before he looked over my shoulder. His eyes became round as saucers, and he started running toward me as he began to yell.

"Run, Bella, run!" he screamed as I turned to see…something. I didn't know what it was, but the beautiful man ran to me and grabbed my arm and began running with me. We hadn't gotten far when he was ripped from my side and was thrown from my sight, causing me to fall to the ground.

As I rolled over I saw what had chased us that short distance. This thing was tall, with pale skin, his eyes were blood red and he growled, pulling his lips back over his teeth. He grabbed me, pulling me to him as he laughed evilly and bent down and bit me on the neck. I screamed. It was then I heard the younger man yell, "NO!" and the demon dropped me.

I looked over at the demon as he was hovering over the beautiful man. I wondered how this thing, this monster could have moved so fast. For one second he was on me and the next he hovered over the beautiful man who tried everything he could to save me. I whimpered knowing there was nothing I could do.

I crawled to the top of a hill that wasn't far away and rolled down the other side, becoming completely covered in the wet leaves. That's when the burning began. It felt as though someone was pouring hot coals under my skin. I gritted my teeth together trying to be quiet, so the demon wouldn't find me.

I don't know how long I lay there; it seemed like forever as my body burned as if I were in the deepest pit of Hell. I continued gritting my teeth trying to stay quiet, and I couldn't understand why I wasn't a pile of ash, for the flames should have consumed me by now.

Then I wondered if I were dead and indeed in the pits of Hell. I wondered if I was being punished for following after the beautiful man and slipping into the dark woods after my father had forbidden me to do so on many occasions. My only reward was the feeling of the damp leaves that covered me, bringing me some, but little, relief.

 **A/N:** I can't thank Aunt Bran enough for all the hard work she put into this story as my Beta. You are a miracle worker hon and I appreciate all your hard work it took you to make this story readable to share with all those who wish to read it.

I"d also like to thank my pre reader Silverfires for suggesting and asking Aunt Bran to take on this endeavor and for all the hard work you to put into it as well as my pre reader...thanks you hon. You both are great friends...huggs to the both of you.


	2. Chapter 2

With One Look.

Chapter 2

The flames finally faltered as they left my limbs slowly ascending to my chest. When it reached my heart, it exploded into an even worse pyre, lifting my torso off the ground. It finally escaped and my heart stopped beating.

Was I truly dead now? I wondered. But I still heard the birds chirping from the trees and the leaves as they rustled like wind chimes from the breeze . I could even hear voices not far off and I wondered if they were from a search party as they looked for me and my beautiful new friend.

I also wondered if the demon had killed my beautiful would-be savior. As I crawled away the thought made me sad. I finally opened my eyes to a much clearer vision. I could even see the tiniest bugs that crawled on the ground. I found this strange, especially since it was dark and I shouldn't be able to see much of anything, but I saw clearly as if it was day.

I removed the leaves that covered me and I jumped to my feet at a rate that frightened me, wondering how that was even possible. I looked at my surroundings, not seeing anyone close, and once again I wondered how I heard voices when there was no one around to speak them.

Was I dead? was I some kind of ghostly spectre that returned from the dead; could I be seen? This scared me as well. After all, I couldn't hear my heart beating - which was yet another conundrum I had to figure out.

The one thing I did know was that I had to get home and as I looked down at myself, I noticed what a mess I was. I couldn't walk through town looking like this, so I opted to use the woods to make my trek home.

I started out walking but began to run, and it wasn't long before I realized that the trees were passing by me at a remarkable speed. I stopped and looked around; every nerve in my body came alive at that moment with fear.

Another thing I noticed was I wasn't breathing hard. I had just run probably a mile and didn't feel tired in the least. What is happening to me? I began again to walk towards the house. I needed my mother to hold me in her arms and tell me it would be all right.

As I rounded the last bend, I jogged to the house. There was a candle burning in the window, and I was sure it was put there for me, a light to show my way home. As I got to the front door I smelled the most amazing aroma. I hadn't even noticed how hungry I was until I got home.

There was this burning in the back of my throat, and although it was bothersome, I didn't think anything of it other than needing some water to quench my dry throat. Now I felt the urgency to eat, almost like I'd die if I didn't have the amazing aroma that was on the other side of the door.

"Mother," I called from the door as I opened it and entered the house. My mother cried out for me as she ran into the living room asking me where I've been for the last three days, but stopped in her tracks once she set eyes on me. At the same time something happened to me I couldn't stop.

That amazing aroma hit me and I lunged for my mother, sinking my teeth into her neck and experiencing the most wonderful taste I had ever wrapped my teeth around. The warm liquid slid down my throat and eased the pain I held there, I think I even moaned in a tizzy. The taste was something I'd never had before and enjoyed immensely.

Once I had finished I stepped back and let what I held fall to the floor. It was then that I saw it was my mother. I became frantic, screaming at what I had done, but I couldn't help it. Had I become what that demon was that attacked me and my beautiful savior?

I fell to the floor and pulled my mother into my arms and rocked her as I sobbed tearlessly. I had killed my mother and become the monster that others had told me existed, that I didn't believe in. I didn't even know what I was, demon … Yes. Monster? … Yes, but what kind? What is it that the demon hunters call my kind now?

In thinking this, a thought came to my mind of my beautiful man's father. He was a hunter and with his son's disappearance he would be hunting the woods for his son.

I had to flee once again as we did when we left America, but now I was the hunted. If they found my mother they would guess it was me, so I had no other choice but to leave this place and find another place to hide, but where? Where do monsters like me hide?

I looked down at my dead mother and picked her up and ran from the house back into the woods. I ran a few miles before getting on my hands and knees, digging a grave with my own hands.

With my new-found speed it didn't take long. I laid my mother in the ground in her new burial-place. I covered her with the dirt I pulled from her grave and I laid a few large boulders on top so I would be able to find her again someday and after shedding a few more dry tears I ran off to find a place to hide.

As I ran I thought back trying to decide what kind of demon I was. I remembered reading a book one day, or skimming through it anyway, at the mercantile. Those kinds of books weren't allowed in our house and being me, I was curious so while at the shop I saw a copy of this story some priest wrote about demons and skimmed through it.

I remembered reading similar things that I was going through, well most of them anyway. The speed, strength and the need for blood to survive, but the other things I had read didn't add up. The book was to some extent fictional and what had happened to me was real, I guessed that there would be some differences in the author's analogy. Was I truly a vampire? It was the only thing I could come up with so until proven wrong, I would assume I was a vampire.

I traveled for days staying in the thicket of the woods trying to stay away from anyone. The burning in my throat returned and that scared me.. I didn't want to hurt anyone again, but as I neared another village I came across a man who was beating on a woman, she screamed for him to stop, but he wouldn't.

I watched as he ripped the clothes from her body and I saw what he planned to do with her. She continued begging for him to stop to no avail. A growl erupted from deep in my chest as I watched this man try to take this woman against her will. I quietly sneaked around to the other side. The woman was now lying on the ground with the man standing over her chuckling.

"You want this as much as I do, bitch," he sneered. She closed her eyes still begging and I saw my chance. I snatched him so fast that once the woman opened her eyes he would be gone and she could get out of there, which she did. I slammed him into the brick wall.

"You like taking women without permission, you son-of-bitch! I'm taking you without yours," I said, meaning a whole different thing. I sunk my teeth into his neck and drained him dry, dropping him at my feet after breaking his neck. I picked him up and carried him off to the woods and buried him in a shallow grave.

I felt better. I had saved a woman from the worst thing that could happen to any woman. It was then I decided that that's how I would survive, off the monsters of this world. I even thought of going back to America and eating Marcy, for starting all the debauchery back in Salem, but dropped it after thinking she wasn't worth it now, especially since I've become one of the monsters.

Months turned into years and years turned into more years, I don't know how many years had passed, but it had been a very long time since I turned. I've taught myself how to survive and stay away from the humans, only being around them to feed.

I've washed myself and my clothing in many different rivers, and I've hidden in places no one would believe, but mostly in the groves of trees. I've broken into houses when they leave and stolen an outfit once mine was in nothing but tatters, never taking more than what I needed.

I tired of living in England and decided to start seeing more of the world. I dove into the ocean and swam for what seemed like an eternity until I came to another shore.

I had no idea where I was, but I knew I'd find out sooner or later and did when I approached a little town not far from the sea. I didn't understand the language they spoke, but I kept my eyes open until I finally figured out that I was in Italy.

This place wasn't much different from living in England, it just wasn't as wet. The one thing I admired about this place was that I could probably travel the entire length of this country and never leave the damn forest. But I pretty much stayed closer to the more populated areas being careful not to be seen.

My food source stayed the same. I still only drank from the rapists and murderers, just the evil ones mostly, you know the ones who didn't deserve to draw a breath, and I always hunted in the evenings just so no one would see my red eyes and my sparkling skin which was another thing I couldn't figure out.

I'd hate to scare the living hell out of some kid or unsuspected mother to be. So yeah, night-time was my feeding time, and even then I put it off for as long as I could, usually every couple of weeks or until I couldn't stand the burning in the back of my throat any longer.

I did roam around a lot just to check out the countryside. It was unbelievably beautiful here, especially near the ocean. There were cottages built into the side of the mountains in some parts of this country, but mostly around the ocean.

I actually found this one town that had a castle built right in the center of the town. It had an old and creepy vibe to it, but it didn't seem to bother the town's folk. The stones that it was made of were old and gray, and the door was thick, and held large black brackets to hold it together.

The windows were long and wide, flat on the bottom, rounded and drew into a point at the top. No one could see in or out because of the heavily stained glass. And although I've never seen one, it made me think of a prison with the windows of a church. The only thing showing was the front of it; the rest was surrounded by a tall stone wall that went on forever and backed up to the forest making the other side of this castle unseen. It made me wonder who owned it.

There were a few towns that I ventured into, but only at twilight, and even then I still kept my head down. I would go into small shops and lift a book or two to give me something to do while I roamed the forests.

I had been here for a while, and I was thinking about continuing on with my travels. I walked in the thickest part of the forest when I walked around this pile of boulders and ran into something I didn't expect.

In front of me stood, what looked like a giant wolf, he stood on his hind legs and his patched fur looked as though he had seen too many fights.

His face almost looked human, but his snout protruded from his face. He growled loudly as his lips rolled back from his teeth that were sharp and menacing. He stood a good four feet taller than me if not more and saliva dripped from the side of his mouth. He began to growl louder causing me to back away slowly trying not to anger him any further than he already was.

As I took another step back I tripped over a tree root that protruded from the ground. It was then he dove for me. Now I know I'm stronger than a human or most animals, but this thing was huge, his muscles bulged out everywhere. I knew he could probably kill me so I began to worry, but as soon as he dove something came out of nowhere and tackled the beast and threw him to the ground.

This something was a man or rather another vampire. He was the first I'd seen since I had been turned, however long that had been. Other beasts began to come into sight, but more vampires appeared as well. I moved out of their way and huddled next to a tree while these warrior type vampires killed what was left of the beasts.

One of the men looked over at me. He was very handsome. He wore a black suit with a red ascot around his neck and a chained necklet that hung over that with a V that hung at the end. He also had a black cloak lined in red that he opened and threw over his shoulder on one side.

He was tall and muscular, not as muscular as the wolf like creature that they had just killed, but where it mattered most, in his arms, legs and chest. His slender nose pointed at the end and he seemed young. Although masculine, he was still beautiful. Was very masculine but beautiful.

His hair was platinum blond almost the color of his skin, but not quite. It hung to his shoulder, but was pulled back with strands that fell from the tie that held most of it back.

After talking to one of his men in their language he began to walk toward me. He stopped just in front of me and held out his gloved hand for me to take. I put my hand in his as he to pull me to my feet. He greeted me in his language that I didn't speak and I told him so.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak your language," I explained hoping he understood English. He gave me a sexy smirk and began again.

"What is your name, and what is your business here?" he asked.

"My name is Isabella, and I…am just traveling, spending time here admiring your countryside," I told him.

"Are you a newborn, and if so where is your sire?" he continued. I frowned at him not knowing what he meant.

"What is a newborn or a sire?" I asked, completely confused.

"A sire is who made you," he said with a furrowed brow and then he spoke again. "When were you turned?" he asked. So many questions - who did this guy think he was? He must think of himself as some kind of of king , I thought to myself.

"Well, I'm not completely sure; I mean I was attacked in the spring of 1697. I wasn't even sure what I was until I read some book that kind of gave me an idea of what I was and you're the first I've seen that has even come close to what I look like," I told him. He looked at me in shock and shook his head. And with a sigh he finished.

"My name is Caius Volturi, I am one of three brothers that rule over this land and the world of vampires, and you are … a vampire. We have laws that govern our race of which I'm sure you have no knowledge, but I will make it clear to you how it works. Where did you live when you were turned?" he asked.

"England, I've been there most of the time, I've only come here recently," I told him. I was shocked myself with the knowledge of there being kings who rule over vampires.

"Well, seeing we have not received any news of any disruptiveness in that area, I'd say you didn't make your presence known to any humans, so I guess you're safe in that respect. We have a law that no human is to know of our kind. If this happens, you are to either kill said human or turn them to be one of us, and if that be the case it is your responsibility to make sure the one you've turned doesn't make him or herself known either," he explained.

"Oh…no…I kept myself hidden at all times. I only fed at night and stayed in the dark shadows. I also buried my kill in the woods afterwards," I told him.

"Do you think you would recognize the vampire who turned you?" he asked.

"Yes, he was trying to drain me, but there was this man who tried to save me. He caught the vampire's attention leaving me to scurry away," I told him.

"So there was another? Do you know if the other human lived?" he asked. I shook my head.

"I don't know, but I doubt it," I told him.

"Okay, why don't you come with me, you can get cleaned up and we can see what we can do about bringing you up to speed about what you are and what you need to know about our kind," he replied.

"Thank you," I said, as he gave me a beautiful smile. He grabbed my arm and turned me to walk in the direction he was going. After letting go of my arm he placed his hand on the small of my back and led me to his home, which just happened to be the castle I saw earlier. I was kind of afraid to enter this place, but he urged me on and led me into this monstrosity.

As we entered the castle the huge room looked mostly like a reception area, all modern, and a human sat behind the desk. Caius looked down at me and grabbed my arm. It took me a minute to figure out that he thought of me as one of his newborns he spoke of earlier, but I had taught myself long ago to control my urges when around humans.

He also called something over his shoulder to his men in his own language. I don't know what he said, but they dispersed and went their own way. Once we passed the human sitting at the desk and walked down a long hall, he released his hold on my arm and once again placed his hand on my lower back as we walked.

We came to a huge door. It had to be at least ten feet tall and six feet wide, and it held more of the same black brackets as the front door. He walked in front of me and leaned against the door with both hands as both doors swung open. Once they were completely open he held out his hand towards the room, and beckoned me to enter.

 **A/N:** I have decided to post one chapter every day...enjoy...huggs.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

As I entered the room I noticed right away, that the door stood in the middle of a circular room and was a similar shade of gray stone that the castle was built of outside. Only in this case it looked lighter or maybe cleaner. There were pillars of gray stucco surrounding the room in a circle reaching to the ceiling holding up the structure that I assumed was the roof.

In the center was a dome structure filled with colored glass, which reminded me of the community center back home, except the community center's glass was clear where we could see the sky. This structure felt different than anything I have seen before. The room flickered with light from the torches that ran along the walls and on every other pillar.

On the other side of the room sat a stone platform, a daïs if you will, that reached from one side of the wall to the other. In the center stood three well decorated thrones whereon sat two vampires that I suspect were the other two brothers that Caius told me of.

The tall brother with dark silky hair flowing past his shoulders stood out the most. I suspected him to be the leader of the three. He was also the palest and his skin looked almost like tissue paper it was so thin, but I dared not to believe that it was that pliable.

His cheekbones were high, and he had a long slender nose, like Caius's, that came to a slight point at the end. He also had a cleft in his chin that he held high, letting everyone know he feared no one, and should be feared, which was a bit frightening in itself.

He wore the same kind of suit as Caius, and the same type of cloak, and I noticed he too wore a necklet that matched Caius's. I wondered if it meant something, because the other brother wore one as well. Was it a symbol of their family? I wondered.

On his right side sat another man. He looked to be a little older than the other two, and his facial expression held the look of what I considered to be a loss of some kind. He was dressed the same as his brothers. They both watched us as we entered the room.

There were other vampires around the room, but I was distracted away from them when a voice echoed through the room. The dark-haired leader spoke to Caius as we walked towards him. The only words I understood as he spoke in the language of this land were Caius's name and mine when Caius introduced us.

Caius walked up to his brother and placed his hand in his. The dark-haired leader closed his eyes for a minute and shortly thereafter showed a scowl in his expression as he opened his eyes and sadly looked into mine. Caius bowed his head slightly and then did the same to me and then took his seat next to his brothers, leaving me standing alone in front of the three and scared half out of my wits as I wondered what was going on.

"Beautiful Isabella, you must forgive us my child, you must be so frightened. It saddens me to know that you have come into our world in such a manner. My name is Aro and this," he said speaking in English and pointing to the older looking gentleman. "Is Marcus; we rule the vampire world together. I assure you we will help your transition into our world with a little more knowledge, and until then you are welcome to stay with us. Thank the Gods, that Caius got to you before the were-wolves killed you; you're very lucky that he was there just in time."

The way he said I was welcome to stay with them, sounded more like a command than an invitation, and what did he mean… "Were-wolves?" I said audibly not meaning to as what he said last soaked into my mind while the three of them chuckled.

"Yes, the creatures of the night, children of the moon if you will. They only shift into were-wolves when the moon is full, and cause a lot of havoc on our world," Caius explained. I raised my eyebrows, shocked at his admission.

Why should I question it though? Look at me - I'm a damn vampire, confirmed now with Caius's explanation earlier. "I have been hunting them down, killing them every chance I get. I started killing them when they killed Marcus's wife many years ago," he explained as Marcus whined and lowered his head.

I looked over at Marcus with sad eyes. "I'm so sorry," I replied, truly feeling badly for his loss.

"Thank you, child," he said as Aro reached across and patted his forearm lending him his support. Aro's attention turned back to me.

"When was the last time you fed, child?" he asked as my eyes met his once again.

"Oh, it's only been a couple of days, so I'm fine," I told him as he rose from his seat and walked down the two steps holding out his hand for me to take. Once he was in front of me I placed my hand into his as he closed his eyes once again. I felt his hand becoming tighter on mine as once again the spot between his eyes wrinkled into a frown.

He opened his eyes and looked confusingly at me as he quickly glanced over his shoulder to Caius and then back to me. "All will be explained, child; do not fear. You must be exhausted, why don't we show you to your room so you can relax. Someone will come to talk to you, they will tell you of our ways and our laws, and answer any questions you may have; how does that sound?" he asked with a smile.

"That sounds fine sir, thank you," I replied. He smiled, and looked to the end of the platform where two young vampires stood. One was a boy and one a girl, both with blond hair though one was blonder than the other. The girl was petite but held a peculiar smirk on her lips, where the boy was tall and muscular and had a confidence about him.

"Jane dear, will you see our guest to one of the guest rooms and make sure she has everything she needs," he said sweetly. The girl nodded and bowed and then walked over to my side as she spoke.

"Yes Master," she answered. Master? They call them master. Oh hell no! This frightened me even further, I felt almost trapped. It was then that I remembered what I thought of this place with just a look earlier, before I found out who lived here.

A prison, but Caius was so gentle and kind, well, at least to me, and the other brothers seemed to care as well. I didn't know what was going on with Aro after touching my hand, but I was sure I'd be finding out sooner rather than later. I would leave my worries about this place for a more appropriate time.

I followed the girl named Jane down a long hallway and up some curvy stairs and then down another long hallway. She stopped in front of another wooden door just like the rest I'd seen in the place and opened the door motioning me to step in. I walked into the room. It was nice, nicer than I expected.

It had a huge bed and floor length mirror, a side table with a large candle that she walked over and lit to brighten the room more. There also stood another table where a bowl and pitcher sat full of water with a towel laid out for when I wanted to freshen up a bit, which I was in dire need of at the moment.

"Here is your closet, we keep all the closets in the castle stocked with clothing; one side is filled for a man and the other is for a woman, if you feel the need to change your clothing. Can I get you anything else?" she asked as she closed the closet door and turned to me.

"No, thank you, I think I have everything I need," I told her. She nodded her head and started for the door.

"If you need anything just pull this banner," she said pointing to the red banner like rope that hung on the wall next to the door. "Someone will be up to talk to you later this evening."

"Thank you again," I told her. She nodded once again and then walked out the door, closing it as she left.

I walked around the room taking in its entire splendor, and all of what I thought before of this place being like a prison was lost to memory. It was truly a palace. The red velvet curtains and matching bedspreads were extravagant, and the rugs look to be woven from the finest fabrics. I've never seen such a truly beautiful place in all of my life.

There was even a bookshelf filled with books and manuscripts. Of what, I had no idea, but resigned myself to check them out later. I walked over to the table that held the pitcher filled with water. I picked it up and poured some of it into the bowl. Sitting the pitcher back into it allotted place. I dipped my hands into the water and picked up the bar of soap that sat next to the bowl.

I lathered it up and a lovely smell wafted up from the soap. I put it to my nose and inhaled its most wonderful scent. It smelled of roses, and I moaned at its splendid scent for it was wonderful. I finished cleaning up and walked to the closet and opened it.

The girl called Jane was right, for one side was indeed clothing for a male and the other was for a female. I sifted through the clothing and pulled out a dress. It was made of blue velvet and was trimmed with a thick cord of gold.

It held a twirling design on its bodice made from the same thick cord. I laid it on the bed and quickly slipped out of my dirty torn dress, pulling the blue dress on and throwing the old one in a pile in the corner of the room in case I would not be allowed to keep any of these beautiful gowns if I was made to leave.

I walked to the same table that held the pitcher and bowl and found a brush. I picked it up and brushed through my hair. I found a ribbon to match my dress in one of the drawers of the closet and pulled my hair back away from my face, tying the ribbon around my head and into a bow on top of my head.

I slipped on the gold slippers I found at the bottom of the closet and looked at myself in the full length mirror. Thinking myself dressed as a princess, I smiled and went to sit on the edge of the bed and waited for someone to come speak to me as promised.

It wasn't long before a knock came to the door. I walked to the door and opened it to find another tall extraordinary handsome vampire with light brown hair styled nicely. He had sparkling red eyes and a smile that if faced by a human would be blinded by its brightness. He too had the body of a man who worked hard and had the muscles to prove it. He was dressed just like the brothers who welcomed me minus the cape.

"Hello Isabella, my name is Demetri. Welcome to our home," he said sweetly as he entered and closed the door behind him. He walked up to me and took my hand and pulled it over my head and twirled me around once and stopped me to face him. "Wow, you look incredible," he said as he pulled my hand into the crook of his elbow and led me to one of two chairs with red velvet padding that sat on the other side of the room.

"Thank you," I said as we made our way to the chairs.

"Please sit," he said as he helped me into the chair and took a seat in the other one facing me. He smiled once again and began to speak.

"First you are very welcome, but I only speak the truth. You are very lovely and we are very happy to have you with us. Master Aro has asked me to come speak to you. He wants to know how much you know of our world and he wants me to explain our laws to you. He also says he would love to have you stay with us and join our coven if you are so inclined," he explained.

"Oh, well, I guess I could stay for a while, but do you think he would give me a little time to think about his offer?" I asked. He smiled and nodded his head.

"Of course, I'm sure he would give you as much time as you need especially since you know next to nothing of our world. He is very upset that one of our kind would turn you and leave you to fend for yourself. Which is another thing I need to ask you. Where were you attacked? By this I need to know what town you hail from," he said.

Oh…um…it was called Maidensville, It's in England around fifty miles north of London, sire," I told him. He furrowed his brow and I worried that I might have said the wrong thing.

"Please Isabella, I am no sire. I am the head of what we call the guard, and you may call me Demetri," he said.

"Oh…sorry. Okay Demetri," I said and he smiled again and bowed his head slightly.

"Now when you were attacked did anyone else see this vampire or did anyone see you?" he asked.

"Um…well, there was this man; he was the son of a preacher that hunts demons. We had stumbled across one another," I told him, not wanting to tell him that I was following the man. "It was then that we discovered the creature and within seconds the creature bit me. The man with his desire to help me called out to the creature and drew the vampire to him giving me time to scurry away and hide. But I think the vampire killed him for when I woke from my transformation he was nowhere to be found.

"And what was his name, do you remember?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No, we only had time for me to give him my name when we were attacked; there was no time for me to learn his," I told him.

"Okay, that's fine. Now did anyone see you?" he asked. I bowed my head as I fought not to cry in front of this handsome man…or I mean…vampire. "So you were seen?" he asked.

"Yes, well not exactly. Um…I didn't know what had happened to me and I was such a mess afterwards. I didn't want to walk through town, so I kept to the woods until I got home. It was dark and there was a candle burning in the window. I thought my mother had put it there for me, you know, to help me find my way home. When I got to the house I smelled what I know now was her blood and I had to have it and when I went into the house my mother ran to me…and…and," was all I got out as I sobbed tearless. Demetri stood up and walked over to me and stooped down in front of me and took my hand in his.

"It's all right Isabella, I understand what happened and I'm very sorry that had to happen to you, but it's only natural for a newborn to act in such a manner. I know it hurts, but this is not your fault," he said comfortingly. I nodded my head and sat back up straight. He stood up and returned to his chair.

"I'm sorry Isabella, but I must ask if you left your mother in the house or did you bury her?" he asked.

"Oh, no I buried her about a couple of miles from our home. I even put boulders on her grave sort of as a marker in case I needed to find her again," I told him.

"Good, that's very good Isabella," he said. "You have good instincts that have helped you get as far as you have. So no one else has seen you since your transformation?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No, no one," I said, and he smiled. "I have been very careful. I didn't want anyone to find me. I heard that man's father say he wanted his son to kill demons and that frightened me. I was so afraid that someone would come searching for me, so I stayed in hiding during the day and hunted only evil people during the night," I told him. He nodded.

"That's very good, Isabella. It shows that you have very good instincts," he said again.

"Do you know the date you were attacked?" he asked.

"Um…it was the day of the spring festival at the community center, so it was July the twenty-second, sixteen hundred and ninety-seven," I told him. When I told him this, his eyebrows shot up onto his forehead, and once again I thought I had said something wrong.

"Do you know what year it is now?" he asked. I shook my head to his question. "It is April the twenty-sixth, Seventeen hundred and twenty-three," he said. I gasped at what he had revealed, not understanding how so many years had passed so quickly.

"It's all right Isabella. Time is very different for us in the vampire world. Twenty-six years is a drop in the bucket for us, but it seems that you are far from being a newborn, you just need to learn our laws and keep to them so you should be just fine," he said.

"Okay, and they are?" I asked. He smiled and lowered his head.

"They aren't many, Isabella, so it is very simple really. Our first and most important law is to never draw our attention to any human. If you are seen doing anything supernatural or they see you doing anything they would think of as different that draws their attention, you are to kill that human or turn them. If you choose the second, they are your responsibility until they are well out of the newborn stage which usually takes a year to sometimes ten years depending on the human."

"Another one of our laws is once a vampire takes a mate you are to never try to break that bond or take a mate from another. Breaking that law as well as the other one will get you killed."

"The rest are trivial, depending on how severe they are will determine how the brothers set sentence for the crime. These are simple as well," he said, unnecessarily clearing his throat before he began.

"Never ever hunt on the grounds of another vampire's marked territory. That is if you're out in the world and come upon the scent of another vampire, you must ask their permission to hunt on their land. You must make yourself known to them anyway for if you are caught in another vampire's territory it can and will probably get you killed. Not by the brothers, but by the landowners themselves. Now here it's different, we never hunt in our own town. We go out to neighboring towns. Usually farther if we have the time, but most of the time we have someone who brings them to us, we call her our fisher, but lately it's been only for the brothers. I myself like to hunt my own prey," he says. I nod in understanding of what he just said.

"Okay," I said again, taking in all he was telling me.

"So you understand all I have told you? There are other laws but mostly they are for the guard and I will explain more of them to you if you decide to join us."

"You keep talking about the guard; who are they exactly?" I asked. He smiled and began.

"The guard are those of us who keep the law for our Kings and keep our coven safe from those who try to overtake us, and as I said I am the leader of these guards.

"Are they like an army? Are there many of you?" I asked.

"Not many, but some of us have gifts that make us much stronger," he explained. It was my turn to furrow my brow, confused at what he meant. He chuckled.

"Ah…I almost forgot to explain that to you as well," he said still chuckling. "There are some of us who carry gifts. As for me I am a tracker. I am the best of our kind as of now," he explained. "There are so many different ones; for instance, we have one who can bind ourselves and others together. There is one who can make your mind believe that it is feeling the worst pain imaginable, and one that can blind you of all your senses, such as smell, eye-sight, touch, etcetera," he said.

"Wow," I said, shocked at hearing this.

"Yes, it is amazing. Master Aro believes that you too might have a gift."

"Me? I haven't seen any evidence of this as of yet," I told him. "Maybe he is mistaken," I said. He shook his head.

"No, Isabella, Master Aro has his own gift. With one touch he can see every thought you've ever had, everything you've ever done since you were born, and when he held your hand earlier you were blank to him. Also Jane tried her gift on you as well; she is the one who can administer pain, and her gift didn't work on you either," he explained.

"How can I find out what kind of gifts I have?" I asked.

"Well, if you decide to join us we can work with you and see what we come up with. As far as we know now, you have the gift of what we call a mind shield, if there is more to this gift," he shrugged his broad shoulders and continued. "Well, only time will tell," he said.

"If I join your coven can I sometime in the future leave if I want?" I asked shyly. Demetri laughed loudly at my question.

"You are adorable, little one, and the answer to your question is the brothers would not keep you here if you wish to leave. Their only concern is that you follow our laws. As long as you do that you may go anywhere you wish," he said. I sat and thought about what he'd said and after a few minutes I looked back up at him.

"Well, I guess I could stay here; after all, I have nowhere else to go. I mean, I have no one any longer, and I tire of being lonely," I told him. He smiled and stood up, pulling me to my feet, and kissed me on my forehead.

"Then welcome to the Volturi, sweet child," he said. "I will notify the brothers immediately. There will be a small initiation and then you will officially be one of us. Now would you like me to show you around so you'll know where to go when the time comes?" he asked.

"I would love that Demetri, thank you," I told him.

"It would be my honor little one. Shall we?" he said holding out his arm for me to take. I smiled and took his arm as we walked out of the room arm in arm.

A/N: Let me know what you think...thanks, huggs.


	4. Chapter 4

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 4**

We walked down the corridor and stood in front of a huge double door. He pushed it open and I stood staring at all its wonder. I had never seen anything like it before, for what stood in front of me was a large room with shelf after shelf of books reaching from the floor to the ceiling.

"This is our library. If you have the desire to read, here you will find anything to your liking," he said as he waved his hand around the room at the hundreds of books.

"Oh my…I have never seen so many books in all my life," I replied in pure bliss.

"Then I take it you are pleased?" Demetri asked with a chuckle at seeing my amazement. I nodded, unable to speak at first.

"I love to read, but never in my life have I seen such splendor as this room before me," I said.

"I'm glad you approve, little one," he said and then laughed at what I'm sure was the look that my face held. "Come, there is much to see," he said taking my arm and leading me back out of the room.

He showed me the gardens that were also beautiful with all the flowers that were in bloom and the fruit trees. There were bushes fashionably trimmed as well as stone benches scattered around the huge garden with a large fountain that sat in the center. A large stone fish on top of it spat water from its mouth.

The peace and the calm I felt there was undeniable. I decided that I would bring a book from the library and spend time out there as much as possible. This would be my haven, the place I could disappear from the real word by diving into the fantasy of the book I next read.

Demetri told me that Master Marcus had designed this garden and dedicated it to his wife. I could see how it was possible for him to do so. The love he felt for her was written all over this place, a special place made for his special mate. Even one of the stone benches had her name carved into it that read:

' **In loving memory of my Didyme'**

The next place Demetri took me was a room where the Volturi went to relax. There were many tables surrounded by chairs. There was another shelf with more books and three soft looking sofas with tables that held large candles. A chandelier hung from the ceiling that held even more candles that lit the room accommodatingly.

As we entered we found a few vampires sitting around one of the tables; they held cards in their hands and looked to be enjoying themselves. They looked towards the door as we entered and smiled as we approached them as Demetri started the introductions.

"Isabella, I would like to introduce you to some of my fellow guard members," he said as he started from the left of the table to the right, pointing out each one as he said their names."This is Alec, and next to him is Alec's twin sister Jane whom you've already met. Next to her is Felix and to his side is Afton. Guys, this is Isabella Swan, she has just decided to join our guard, and I thought we'd stop by and introduce you all to our new recruit before we continue on our way to the throne room to tell Master Aro of her decision.

They all nodded and welcomed me in a friendly manner. They told me if I ever wished to join them in a good card game I was welcome, which calmed my nervousness a bit.

"If you will excuse us we'd better inform Master Aro. Isabella, if you will come with me I'll lead you to Master Aro," he said as he put his arm out once again for me to take. I curtsied and told them it was grand to make their acquaintance and grabbed Demetri's arm as he led me out of the room and down the hall to the Throne Room.

 **XXX**

 **Aro's point of view.**

As Jane led Isabella from the room I turned to look at my brother, who had just returned from his hunt for the children of the moon. I knew he had no idea of what he had just brought to our coven, for he has no gift as Marcus who could see the bonds of anyone he cast his eyes upon - or mine, the gift of reading others' minds, seeing every thought they have ever had.

With just one touch I searched Isabella's mind hoping to see if she was telling the truth of what her business was in our fair country, but to my surprise I saw nothing - a blank slate with nothing but darkness. No past, no future, completely nothing. I knew then that she held a gift she knew nothing about, or if she did she did not share it with us at the time.

I even gave Jane a look to try her gift of pain against Isabella. Dear Jane, my most trusted she-devil. She knew me well enough to know what I wanted when I wanted it without my even saying a single word. Even her gift showed no signs of working against this girl. I decided to send Demetri to question her to find out what knowledge she held, and to explain our laws to her if she was indeed telling the truth.

I almost jumped for joy after seeing this, for if I was correct and her gift was a shield we had hit the mother lode of gifts. The difference between Isabella and Renata was that I could read Renata's mind. I kept her by my side for protection against those who wished us harm, but she had to be touching me in order for her shield to work. However, after touching Isabella I found I could not read her, which told me she had a special kind of shield - one which could shield without touch - and if she indeed held such a gift I would do everything in my power to keep her with us.

"What is it, brother?" Caius asked, seeing my smile of wonderment.

"You have no clue as to what you have brought to us, dear brother," I replied.

"And pray what is it that I have brought to you, brother?" he asked.

"If this girl is as innocent as you and she proclaim, you have brought a powerful gift to our coven."

"And pray tell us what is it that you think this girl carries?" he continued to ask.

"She may very well be a shield, brother, and if this is the case we shall do all in our power to keep her here," I proclaimed. Caius huffed and shook his head in disgust.

Caius always hated when I found a new gift, although he knew it helped our coven to stay protected from those who wished to overthrow us or cause us harm. In truth I think he was jealous of the idea that so many in our coven held a gift where he had none.

"No need to fret, dear brothers," Marcus said as he looked over at the two of us.

"And why is that, Marcus?" Caius asked hatefully.

"Because you hold a bond to this girl; although it is not one of a true mating it is still a bond, one of companionship intertwined with much love. You will not be able to allow her to leave, at least not without bringing sadness to your very existence," he explained.

"Wonderful!" I cheered, clapping my hands together and bringing my hopes of keeping the girl here for her gifts under the disguise of the love my brother has found (though not celebrated). "I am so happy for you, my brother. You have found love at last, and will be at peace from your loneliness until your true mate is found."

"And what will happen to this girl once I do find my true mate, brother? Am I to just cast her aside, break her heart and think nothing of doing this when the time comes?" Caius asked.

"Please, Caius. You know that we seldom find our true mates. Most of us wait centuries before we find them, if ever. You and Isabella could share your whole existence together never to find each other's true mates," I told him. Caius paused for a few minutes thinking of what I had explained before nodding his head in understanding.

Everyone in our coven knew not to argue with Marcus's gift. We all knew he spoke the truth. He was never wrong when it came to the bonds he saw, and that is why Caius didn't argue with him. I knew Caius felt something for this girl even if it was the beginning of a loving relationship with her. Only time will tell how strong their love was to grow.

"Demetri," I called knowing he would hear me no matter where in the castle he was, and within minutes he approached the daïs.

"Yes, Master," he said as he bowed before me awaiting my instructions.

"I need you to go to Isabella's room and question her about all she knows of our existence. Listen well to see if she is truthful with her explanation and if so tell her our laws and answer any questions she may have. Also, do your best to get her to join our coven. She will make a great guard for I think she brings with her a special gift. Is that understood, my boy?"

"Yes, Master. I will do my best," he answered as he bowed once again and headed to Isabella's room. I sat back on my throne and smiled happily. I just knew things were going to work out well, and with Isabella in our coven no one would be able to overthrow us during our reign…ever.

I looked over at Caius and noticed a small smirk on his lips. Although he tried to hide it, I knew he was happy about finding a companion. After seeing I was watching him he placed a hand over his mouth and forced a stern look on his face as once again the doors opened and Felix and Santiago walked in. They approached the daïs.

"What is it, Santiago?"

"We've just come from the Americas my Lord, and found Maria has started yet another new-born army. It seems that others have started their own as well and are at war for feeding rights to certain areas in the south," he explained.

"Hmm…" I hummed thinking about what was just told me. Maria had started an army once before, but then she only had one other army to fight against. They made such a mess of things that we had to step in and put an end to it. Of course Maria got away leaving her newborns to suffer our wrath and when we left none was to be found.

Demetri's gift only works if he has some kind of contact with who he is tracking. He had never come into contact with her so he couldn't hunt her down and we hadn't seen her since. That was many years ago and we just thought that we had frightened her so badly that she wouldn't start up again, but alas, I guess we were wrong.

"Are these covens causing trouble enough to expose us to the humans?"

"No, my Lord. It seems they have found a way to fight one another in the desert far away from human eyes. They seemed to have learned their lesson and formed a new battle plan from the last time," he explained. I sat and thought for a few minutes before answering.

"I see, well they're not breaking any of our laws as long as they aren't exposing us to the humans so I see no point in stepping in. We will keep a close eye on them just in case things start to unravel. See to it, Santiago. Be sure to check on them from time to time to make sure it stays peaceful, so to speak," I commanded.

"Yes, Master. I will see that it is done," Santiago said as he and Felix left us passing Jane as she reentered the room walking up to the daïs and bowed.

"Yes, Jane?"

"Isabella is tucked safely in her room and I am to tell you that Gianna is back with dinner," she said. Gianna is our fisher, a beautiful human who goes out and brings a carriage load of humans in the guise of a tour of our castle, but in reality she brings them in as our dinner a couple of times a week.

"Thank you my dear, please take your place and join us as always."

"Yes, Master," she replied as she took her place next to her brother Alec. After dinner was finished and cleaned up Jane and Alec took their leave to join a few of the others in the game room. An hour or so later my brothers and I were joined once again by the lovely Isabella and Demetri.

As they made their way to the daïs Isabella stood before us and Demetri walked up the few steps and held out his hand for me to take. As I read his mind a smile started to form on my lips. I released his hand and he joined Isabella.

"My dear Isabella, I am so glad you have decided to join us. This is a very happy day for us indeed. I see that Demetri has told you what is expected of you concerning our laws, so I think our next point of business is for you to start your training."

"Thank you my Lord I am happy to be here," Isabella said, looking towards Caius who gave her a soft smile.

"You're welcome, child. I think the best course action is for Caius to start your training by teaching you the fine art of fighting, and I think Demetri here can begin to teach you how to use your gift."

"Yes my Lord. Demetri said you thought I had a gift, but I've never seen any sign of it as of yet," she replied.

"Sometimes it takes a little longer for your gifts to show themselves in the early stages of vampirism, but I'm sure if Aro says you have one then it's more than likely you do and Demetri is the best to bring that out in you. I will be glad to start your fight training," Caius said.

"Thank you my Lord, if you think that is best then I will abide by your word," Isabella replied shyly.

"Alright, I'll give you a couple of hours to change and meet me in the training room. Demetri, on your way out will you show Isabella the training room?" Caius asked which brought all our attention to him. Caius never asked anything of anyone. He always demanded and expected us all to follow through. I bit back a smile knowing it had to do with his feelings for the girl in front of us and turned, waiting for Demetri to come to himself to answer my brother.

"Y…yes, Master," Demetri finally said, trying to shake himself free from the shock of Caius's actions while answering.

"Good, see to it," he said.

"My Lord, why must I change?" Isabella asked Caius. Caius smiled while looking over her attire.

"My dear, I don't think that fighting in that dress would be wise. Although it looks beautiful on you it wouldn't be viable in the type of movements that we will be doing," he explained, causing Isabella to smile shyly.

"Oh, I guess you're right my Lord," she said as Demetri took Isabella arm after she bowed to the brothers and took their leave.

At that time Chelsea came in and walked over to the brothers. "Will you need my assistance, Master?" she asked. Caius perked up and spoke before I had a chance, bringing another smile to my face.

"No, Chelsea!" he said and then tried to catch himself before he exposed himself to the rest of us; but of course it was too late. "Isabella will not need your services. She will be loyal to us. There will be no need to force her loyalties to us," he finished.

Chelsea had the gift of breaking and bonding others to one another. Unless they were true mates she had no power over that kind of bond. She bowed and hastily left us to ourselves. I looked over at Caius and grinned.

"What?" Caius asked, looking perturbed.

"Nothing, brother, you are right in that there will be no need to bind Isabella to us…or should I say you?" I said with a chuckle.

"Fuck you, Aro," he returned and got up and left the throne room to ready himself for his companion's training. I laughed and Marcus shook his head as we watched him leave.

A/N: Let me know what you think...thanks, huggs.


	5. Chapter 5

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 5**

 **A/N: There is a soft lemon in this update. I will let those of you who wish not to read it know ahead of time...thanks for reading, huggs.**

 **Isabella's P.O.V.**

Two hours later I found myself in my room dressed in men's clothing with my hair tied up in a ponytail getting ready to join Master Caius in the training room for my first lesson. I was staring at myself in the mirror, letting my mind wander and thinking of all that had occurred in the last few days.

It started with a face to face encounter with a creature known as one of the children of the moon … a werewolf I never knew existed, but then again I didn't know about vampires either until I became one, which was second on my list of occurrences.

And last but not least was meeting this man called Caius who just happened to be one of three kings who rule the vampire race. My head was spinning, and it didn't help that Caius was one of the most handsome men I'd ever laid my eyes on. I found myself many times staring at this beautiful man while in the throne room.

What was it about this man … I mean vampire, that caught my eye so often? Yes, he was beautiful, but I felt drawn to him somehow, and when he smiled it made me want to smile as well. Every time he touched me I wanted to lean into him and take in that sweet mint chocolate scent of his. It also came to mind that it calmed me down considerably somehow, and I felt irritated when I wasn't around him.

It made me wonder if it was just because I had been alone for so long. Was I just lonely and in need of some attention? If so, why didn't I feel calm when I sat and spoke to Demetri or even Jane? No, it was definitely Caius with whom I longed to keep company.

When we were in the throne room and I looked into his eyes I felt like I had butterflies fluttering around in my stomach. I had to fight myself from climbing those few steps to be closer to him. What was going on with me?

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts and knowing I had to get to the training room to start my fight training. I felt giddy knowing I would be seeing Caius again. I checked my appearance over again in the mirror before leaving my room and headed to my first training lesson.

As I approached the room that Demetri had shown me earlier I took a deep unneeded breath and entered the room. I was surprised to see so many vampires lining the wall. I instantly became so nervous at seeing them all in one place that I stood close to the door without moving. It was then that I heard his voice.

"Come Isabella, let us begin," Caius said. I turned to find him standing in the center of the room with his hand out for me to come to him. I walked slowly to the center of the room and took his hand, causing me instantly to become calm. I looked up at him and saw a soft smile on his lips causing me to smile back.

"Don't worry my dear. It's not often I train someone and they all came to watch," he said referring to the room full of vampires. He walked me to the other side of the room and told me to watch his every move. I nodded as he moved to the center of the room where Demetri had joined him.

They instantly crouched into a fighting stance and as soon as Master Caius nodded his head they began. I watched as they began to circle one another and took in their every move thereafter as they dodged and kicked at one another, neither one coming into contact with the other until Caius got what I thought was a lucky shot and smashed Demetri in the chest with his hand and sending him flying across the room. He hit the wall and caused some of the stone to crumble to the floor. Once Demetri got to his feet, he went to sit next to one of the others as Caius held out his hand for me to join him.

I walked nervously over to him and he took my hand, turning me to look at him. "Did you pay close attention?" he asked. I nodded my head. "Good, now I want you to dodge any hits I aim at you. Do you think you can do that?" he asked. I nodded again. He dropped my hand and began backing away from me a little and crouched into another fighting stance.

I followed suit and lowered myself to mirror his stance and watch his every move. I knew if he hit me I'd wind up like Demetri. He knew how to fight where I didn't. I kept telling myself that I had to concentrate to watch how he moved to try and keep him from coming in contact with my body.

Caius came towards me so fast I almost didn't see him move, but just before he made contact I moved and swung around to face him again. We did this a few times and I could almost sense that he was proud that I could dodge his contacts. I wasn't sure why I knew that, but I did.

That is until the last time he struck. He came towards me and I didn't quite make it out of his way in time and he struck me. The force I was hit with caused me to fly across the room and hit the wall the same way Demetri did. Caius came at me again before I could get to my feet and it was then that I looked him in the eyes; my fear took over and something that looked like a shiny blue bubble sprang from my body and hit Caius so hard it projected him in the opposite direction. He made his own hole in the wall across the room, then hit the floor and stared back at me in shock.

 _Oh God, what have I done!?_ I thought as the whole room gasped in shock at what they had just seen. I jumped to my feet and ran over to where he still sat staring at me. I stooped down and put my hand on his chest to see what kind of damage I had done to one of the Kings and to see if he was all right. I wondered if they would tear me apart for hurting one of the brothers. I was frightened out of my mind.

"Oh God, Caius are you all right?" I asked worriedly. "I don't know what happened," I said as Caius placed his hand on mine that rested on his chest and shook his head as he chuckled.

"I'm fine my dear, stop worrying. I think your gift just showed itself," he said, still holding my hand to his chest. "Get out, all of you!" he shouted, never taking his eyes off of me as the crowd of vampires left the room leaving Caius and me alone.

When we heard the door close behind us, Caius lifted his hand to my cheek and smiled. "So beautiful," he said as he brought his lips to mine. At first I was surprised by his actions, but as soon as I realized what was happening I kissed him back. He pulled me onto his lap and as I straddled him he deepened the kiss causing me to moan as I melted into his body. We tangled our fingers in one another's hair as we sat there passionately kissing. After a few minutes he pulled away but kept me inches away from his face.

 **(The beginning of the soft lemon.)**

"Marcus said you would be mine, but I dared not to hope. Now I find I need you like humans need air to breathe," he said as he closed the distance and kissed me again. I found myself lost in this man and I ground myself against the hardness that appeared in his lap. He moaned and placed his hands on my backside and pressed my lower region into him even harder than before, both of us growling and needing a release. I began to feel a tightening in my lower abdomen and I sped up my thrust. Caius moved from my lips and kissed down my jaw continuing down my neck and to just under my ear and whispered. "God, I need to be inside you," he whispered as he pushed my backside even harder against him.

"Caius," I whimpered as something released inside me and I was flying in an erotic scream while Caius groaned out his release right along with me. We sat there for a few minutes not moving until we came down from our high. He moved me away from him slightly and looked down at his lap finding a wet spot where his hardness was before. He smiled at me before he spoke.

 **(End of the soft lemon.)**

"We'll, that's never happened to me before," he said with a chuckle.

"Me either," I told him shyly. He looked at me curiously.

"You're a virgin?" he asked. I lowered my head and nodded. He placed his finger under my chin and pulled it up to meet his eyes. He was smiling ear to ear in hearing that kind of information. "That, my dear, is a very good thing. You will be mine and only mine from this day forward," he said as he captured my lips again. After kissing this amazing man for a while longer we got to our feet.

"We need to get cleaned up and then we'll talk, and I want you to get started learning your gift, the fight training can continue tomorrow."

"Okay," I agreed.

"I'll meet you in your room in fifteen minutes," he said and ran almost unseen out of the room. I stood there and took in another unneeded deep breath and took off for my own room.

After bathing I changed into another one of the gowns I found in the closet and sat down at the dressing table and ran a brush through my hair as I daydreamed of what happened in the training room. Was it possible that I could have a relationship with Caius? God I hope so, I thought to myself. He's an amazing man and what I was feeling for him was more than a casual affair. I was growing to love this man and I needed him as he said 'like humans needed air to breathe'.

It was then that I felt his lips on my neck. I was so lost in my daydream that I didn't even hear him enter the room. I closed my eyes and had to catch a moan from leaving my lips.

When I opened my eyes I saw him through my mirror as he leaned over me.

"You look gloriously beautiful, my love," he whispered as he spun me around and brought me to my feet pressing his lips to mine. I molded myself to him and moved my arms up and over his shoulders and into his hair pulling him harder to my lips. When he pulled away he whispered into my lips.

"I want you so badly it hurts, but I want to take my time with you and there's so much left to do yet. I promise you, my love, that I will make you mine soon," he said kissing me again. The next time he pulled away he walked me to the smaller sofa and sat us both down next to one another. He pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear and smiled.

"Demetri will be here soon to get you started on learning your gift. I will be staying here with you both for I haven't taken you yet and no other man will be alone with you until I have. Do you understand?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yes, Caius I understand."

"Good, you are mine Isabella and mine alone," he said as he gave me a peck on the lips just as Demetri knocked on the door. Caius pulled away and placed his arms around my waist as he told Demetri to enter.

Demetri entered the room and bowed to Caius and took a seat across from me in one of the velvet red chairs.

"Are you ready to learn how to use you gift?" he asked with a smile. I nodded.

"Yes, I'm ready."

"Good, I was told and saw that you are a shield," he said with a chuckle which was caused I'm sure by what took place in the training room. Caius growled at him and Demetri cleared his throat. "Sorry," he said and then continued. "Okay let's get started," he said.

"A shield can be one of two things, it can possibly be a physical shield, which is what Renada is and Aro and I think you are, and it goes without saying how you sent Caius across the room without touching him, and is why we think it's a physical shield. Although I've never seen someone carry both shields, Aro and I believe that it's possible that you may carry both. We believe this due to the fact that Aro cannot read your mind and Jane's gift will not work on you," he said. Demetri chuckled and then continued.

"As I said I've never seen a shield take on both shapes, although it's not impossible, we'll have to see how it turns out once we get further into your training. So with that in mind shall we begin?" he asked. I nodded my head.

After an hour of stretching my shield for so long I was completely worn out. Can a vampire be worn out? I didn't know but it sure felt like it. Demetri was still pushing me to use my shield when Caius warned him not to piss me off or he'd find himself falling four stories onto the stone path below, not from him, but from me after I used my shield to knock him through the wall.

And indeed he was pushing me. I was becoming irritated with him for not letting me take a break. I wanted him to feel pain like he was causing me when he hit the floor screaming in pain.

"Isabella, stop," Caius yelled as he jumped to his feet.

"Stop what? I'm not doing anything," I yelled back.

"You are, you just don't realize you're doing it," he said.

"I don't know how, I didn't even know I could do something like that," I cried. Caius walked over to me and pulled me to his chest and kissed me passionately, making me forget everything I was doing. In doing so Demetri quieted and lay still on the floor. When Caius released me from the kiss I sighed calmly as he gave me another one of those drop-dead sweet smiles.

"You have another gift, my love," he said softly.

"I do? What exactly does that mean?" I asked nervously.

"It means, dear girl, that you are quite unique, no one has ever had more than one gift at a time, or at least none that I have come across," Demetri said as he slowly pulled himself from the floor with a groan. "And it seems it's a lot like Jane's," he continued while Caius agreed with him taking on a curious expression.

"What's wrong?" I asked, seeing his confusion.

"Nothing my dear, I just had a thought that's all, but before I reveal what I'm thinking I must speak to Aro about this first," he said, then turned to Demetri. "Demetri go find Aro and tell him to meet me in his office in five minutes.

"Yes, Master," he said and slowly left the room probably still feeling the after effects of my new found gift.

"What is it Caius, should I be worried?" I asked.

"No my dear," he said while running the backside of his fingers over my cheek. "You shouldn't be worried, if nothing else you should feel proud. I have an idea of what might be going on. Once I converse with Aro I'll be back to talk to you about it so don't worry. Once you learn how to control your gifts all will be fine, amazing … perfect," he said as he kissed me once more before leaving me alone with my worries.

I knew I should trust him when he said all would be okay, but it still sat heavily on my mind. This was new to me; I had hurt Demetri without even meaning to. What if I hurt someone else? That's something I didn't want to do. Do I stay in my room alone until I learn how to perfect my gifts? Because I sure as hell don't want to hurt anyone else with them.

After deliberating a little more over what had happen and what I should do I let my mind rest and decided to do whatever Caius and Aro wished me to do. I climbed on the bed and lay back on the soft pillow, closed my eyes, and let my mind wander to a better memory, one of Caius and what had happened in the training room between us and all I felt when he kissed me, which calmed me down considerably.

A/N: Let me know what you think...thanks for reading, huggs.


	6. Chapter 6

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 6**

 **A/N: Once again there will be a lemon in this update, and once again I have marked it ahead of time encase you wish to pass it. Huggs**

 **Caius P.O.V.**

My mind was spinning with the thought of Isabella. Not just that she would be mine, but with the thought of her gifts. If I was right I was about to make Aro's existence one of pure bliss. I didn't want to jinx this for us. If I was right that Aro would try everything in his power to attach Isabella to himself as he tried to push me aside, I wasn't going to let that happen. I would see to that, but I still thought it best to talk to Aro about Isabella's gifts in any case.

Besides if I was right he wouldn't be able to attach himself to her in any case due to her gift as a shield. She would block not only Chelsea's gift of bonding her to him or us, but she'd block all other gifts as well. But she will have to be watched … closely and led in such a way that she doesn't put any of us in harm's way until she learns how to control it or them. With that one gift she will absorb all gifts she comes in contact with, yes, she will have to be watched very closely.

As I arrived at Aro's office door and before I could knock I heard his voice telling me to enter. I opened the door and walked across the room and sat in one of the leather chairs facing his desk. Aro looked at me from his own chair behind the antique mahogany desk before he spoke.

"What can I do for you, brother?" I sighed and gave him my best smirk as Aro's eyebrow arched into his hairline. Aro knew me well enough to know that I had knowledge he did not, and he would stop at nothing until he found out what that something was. He also knew I was coming from Isabella's room where Demetri and I were trying to teach her the best way of using her gift as a shield, so he knew it had to be something he would find intriguing. Instead of torturing him by keeping him in the dark I began to explain to him what we had found out.

"Brother, Demetri and I have just found out that Isabella has not only two gifts, but three…so far."

"Three! You mean besides the double shield?" he asked. I nodded my head and continued.

"I'm not completely sure so do not take my word to heart, but I'm thinking that she may very well turn out to be a sponge."

Aro's eyes grew to the size of saucers. He jumped to his feet, his face lit up and a smile took over his entire countenance. He paced his office floor for a few seconds and then turned back to me and asked.

"Are you sure?"

"No, as I said don't take my word to heart, but I have a feeling that it is a very good possibility,"

"What has she done to make you think this is a possibility?" I sighed and steepled my four fingers against my lips as I thought about what had happened earlier. To keep my explanation short I decided the direct approach was best.

"I think she absorbed Jane's gift, brother. She just put Demetri rolling on the floor in pain, and in Demetri's own words he said it felt like Jane's gift."

"Really," he said as he continued his pacing, and I could see his mind began to work. "Where is Eleazar at the moment?" he asked as his mind reeled trying to think of the last place he remembered Eleazar to be.

Eleazar is one of our elite guards. He has the gift of knowing what gift humans and vampires alike carry, and Aro sends him out to scour the world in search of special gifts to add to our forces.

"I believe Demetri said he was in Egypt at the moment," I told him.

"We need to send for him. He will be able to tell us for sure of Isabella's gift, or gifts if she is not as you say a sponge, but brother if she is … what a find!" he said, almost giddy as he clapped his hands together.

"Do not get ahead of yourself, brother. We will send for Eleazar and will find out soon enough how special she is."

Aro turned to me and smiled.

"I hear Marcus told you that you are bonded to Isabella. What do you think of that, brother? How do you think that will work in your favor?"

I shook my head and smiled. Marcus's gift is that he can see bonds, any kind of bonds whether they be friendship, familial, bonded mates and finally true mates. It comes in handy when there is a dispute with a vampire who tries to take another's mate. This is a no-no in our world.

"I find Isabella very pleasing, but Marcus didn't say she was my true mate, brother only that there is a bond there and it may be nothing more than a companionship bond between the two of us. But I do find myself drawn to the woman, and feel that I do not want to be parted from her for long periods at a time." Aro smiled and nodded his head in understanding.

"This is a very good turn of events. You know as well as I do that very few find their true mates, brother. I've known only two that have found theirs and that is Marcus and myself. It is very uncommon and you may find yourself spending your eternity with Isabella and be very content in doing so," he explained. I nodded in agreement.

It was very uncommon for our race to find our true mates, and Aro was right. I too only know of two that have found their true mates and we have knowledge of every vampire in existence, or almost every one of them unless we happen across one like Isabella who was turned unexpectedly. It is true that others have found their bonded mates such as Isabella and myself, but we've never come across any besides Aro and Marcus who have found their true mate, and even then Marcus had lost his true mate, Didyme, to a werewolf attack leaving him dead inside. No pun intended.

Aro is happily mated to Sulpicia and has been for some time. Our true mate calms and completes us, which keeps us grounded in our way of thinking and making decisions. Which is also true with our bonded mates, but to find our true mate is something else completely.

With bonded mates it is true that we can leave them for an undetermined amount of time without too much pain, but with true mates that would be impossible. Being away from our true mates is very painful, bringing confusion and uncertainty. It's not a good thing to be away from our true mates and that is why Aro takes Sulpicia with him when he leaves the castle if he's going to be gone any length of time.

After Didyme's death, Aro had Chelsea bond Marcus to our coven. Aro couldn't let him wander off and try to find his second true death. Chelsea has the gift to break or bond another to whomever she wishes. Granted she cannot break a true mated bond though she tried to do just that with Marcus after he lost Didyme, but failed, and that is why Aro had her bond him to the crown. It gave him some relief from his true mate's death; he is less confused, but he is still not all there at times.

"Thank you, brother. I think you've just made my day with this information. I will contact Eleazer and have him return as soon as he can so we can be sure of Isabella's gifts. I can't tell you how I hope you are right in your speculations. To have a sponge in our midst is more than I could have ever hoped for. I just wish that Chelsea's gift could bind her to us for eternity, but with her shield that will be impossible, so I leave it in your hands to keep her here, happy and content," Aro said.

I just hope I can do just that. I never want Isabella to leave us either, but it's not only for her gifts, although it will be exciting to have the protection among our guard, but I was thinking more in the line as my mate.

I couldn't wait to take her as mine to feel our bodies intertwined in the heat of passion it made me hard just thinking about it, and to know that she is a virgin makes it that much more exciting.

To know that I will be or will ever be the only one to touch her made it that more endearing, but I must take my time with her - to hurry her in such a manner may push her away from me, so I must show her kindness, show her that I can be gentle with her. I must lead her slowly into my bed. Let her feel loved and adored. Yes, that is what I will do.

"I must get back to Isabella. I told her I would explain things to her after I had spoken to you first. Please let me know when Eleazer will arrive," I said as I got to my feet and headed to the door.

"I will do just that, brother. Thank you for this amazing information, and please inform me of any further developments."

"I will do that, brother," I told him as I left his office and made my way back to Isabella.

 **XXX**

 **Isabella's P.O.V.**

I tried to relax and yes, it did help lying here thinking about Caius, but the thoughts of hurting someone with my new -found gifts kept creeping into my psyche as that frightening chill took over again.

I couldn't help thinking about poor Demetri lying on the floor in so much pain, pain that I caused. Demetri had been nothing but kind to me and what do I do…I send him to his knees in excruciating pain.

I felt so bad for doing that to him. I didn't even have time to apologize to him before Caius sent him away.

I'll have to make a point to apologize to him the next time I see him - that is if he's not too afraid to come near me after what I've done to him. Oh God! I really need to learn how to control my gifts before I seriously hurt someone.

What is going on with me? I know I have to learn how to control myself, but what I can't get through my head is why now? I've been alone for what Caius said was quite some time.

Why haven't these gift shown themselves before now? Granted I've been alone and maybe that has something to do with it, but you would think I would have seen some sort of sign or even a hint of these gifts.

Caius says he has an idea of what's going on with me and needed to talk to Aro about it first, god I hope so. I just wish he'd come back and tell me something instead of leaving me here to suffer, wondering what was happening to me.

And as if he read my mind my door opened and he walked in giving me one of his captivating smiles. I jumped from the bed and stood before him waiting for him to tell me something, anything to ease my suffering.

"Well, Isabella how are you feeling?"

Was he serious! How am I feeling? How did he think I was feeling! I could have killed poor Demetri, and he's asking how I'm feeling! I glared at him as if he had lost his mind before answering his question.

"Caius, how do you think I'm feeling? I could have killed poor Demetri. I'm devastated, nervous and need some answers. Please help me to understand what is going on with me," I asked, almost begging for help. Caius walked up to me and pulled me into his arms. I rested my cheek on his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist and sighed feeling the anxiousness drain from my body with his contact.

"Ease yourself my love. It would take a great deal more than what you put Demetri through to kill the likes of him, or any of us as far as that goes. And for helping you…yes, my sweet Isabella I will help you and if you are what I think you are we will train you to control your gifts," he said resting his cheek on top of my head.

"What exactly do you think I am?"

"I think you may be what we call a sponge."

"A what?!" I screeched, confused at what I heard him say. As I raised my head to look him in the eyes, he chuckled and then kissed me on my forehead.

"A sponge, but will know more when Eleazer gets here."

"Eleazer, who is he?"

"He, my dear, is another one of our elite guard members. He also has a gift. Aro sends him out to scour the world for possible gifted vampires that may be of use to us. His gift is that he can tell if a vampire and even some humans have a gift. If they are gifted he informs Aro who sends an invitation to said vampire to come see us, we ask them to join our guard. If they agree they join us if not then they are sent on their way to live whatever existence they are meant to live as long as they don't use said gift against us," he explained.

"What of the humans, I mean, if this Eleazer senses that they may have a gift what happens to them?" I asked needing to know what happens to them and how they talk to them if the humans aren't allowed to know of our existence. Caius paused for a short minute before answering.

"That would depend on what kind of gift they possess. If their gift is minuscule then they are left alone. If it is a powerful gift they are watched for a time and if we think they could prove useful then they are turned and trained to be a part of the guard."

"And that is the tricky part, isn't it? I mean, if the human decides not to join you then what, you kill them?" I asked, knowing I was right in my assumption as Caius nodded his head slightly.

"Sadly, yes my dear, but in our defense we do feed from humans and if said human could be a danger to us it is no different than feeding from the scourge of the world that we live in, right?" he asked nervously.

I could tell he was worried about how I would look at him after learning this part about him, but he was right - we did feed from humans, they were just cows to some of us, the bane of our existence. It still saddened me that they would tell a human of our existence just for their gift, only to kill them if they refused. But it was the world we lived in, one I had no choice but to accept and move on from. I nodded my head before continuing.

"So, this Eleazer has been sent for? He will be able to tell what kind of gift I have and how to proceed?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yes, my love. Once we learn exactly what your gifts are we can begin to train you to use them safely," he said before continuing on. "Isabella, there is one other thing I wish to make clear to you. If you are indeed a sponge, Aro will try to recruit you to join his guard. You see, my love, we have two types of guards, you along with some of the others who carry a greater gift are called the elite guard; the others are in a much lower class of guard. You see the three of us have our own elite guards and while they go on missions together they still belong to one of us. But in your case this will not happen. You are mine, Isabella, heart, body and soul, not Aro's. No matter what he says or tries to make you do you will always - and I want to make this perfectly clear to you -you will always come to me first before doing anything others might ask of you. Am I clear my love? Always come to me first."

I could tell he meant every word he said. I had to admit that I liked the part about being his, heart, body and soul. I knew he didn't mean to sound controlling, he was just worried someone would make me do something against my will and he was making sure I was protected…by him, that made my heart melt, and sent a shiver down my spine.

"I understand Caius. I'll come to you if any of what you said happens…I promise."

He nodded his head and buried his face into my hair and took in my scent.

"God, you smell delicious," he whispered. I moaned and ran my hands up his chiseled chest and over his shoulders and intertwined my fingers into his silky soft white blond hair, holding him closer.

"I want you my love…so badly," he proclaimed.

 **Caius's P.O.V.**

"Then take me Caius, but you must know that I've never been with another man before." I smiled knowing I would be the first. I leaned down and swept her feet out from beneath her and walked across the room and laid her on the bed. I slowly removed every piece of her garments and proceeded to disrobe myself, and lay down next to her. I softly stroked her cheek with the back of my hand as I stared into her soft red eyes and leaned in and kissed her passionately, letting her know what she meant to me.

 **(Lemon to follow)**

"So beautiful," I said as I moved on top of her holding myself up with my forearms. I kissed her again and began kissing across her jaw and down her neck. I didn't stop until I came to her breast. With my tongue I circled one of her nipples before taking it into my mouth and suckling it, causing Isabella to moan pleasurably. I grinned knowing I was bringing her pleasure. After paying equal attention to both breasts I began to kiss further down her body until I came to just above her nub.

Isabella watched as I took her nub into my mouth and sucked softly bringing another moan from her. I circled her nub with my tongue as well. I removed my mouth from her and started circling her nub with my fingers as I watched this beautiful woman moan and move her hips almost begging for me. I slowly moved down and inserted one of my fingers into her causing her to arch her back. I knew she hadn't been touched by any other man by her own confession and knowing how much more painful it would be after becoming a vampire let my claw on that finger extend and after finding her maidenhood I sliced the thin layer that lay before me. Isabella gasped after feeling the sting of my action and sat up holding herself up with her hands trying to pull away from me.

"Shhh, my love," I said holding her in place with one hand. "If I take you without doing this it will hurt that much more than if you were human. Please, it will be over soon I promise. Please lie down and let me fix this." Isabella looked at me with a worried look, but trusted me enough to let me finish and lay back down. I removed my fingers and stuck my finger into my mouth moaning at the taste of her. I generously coated my finger with as much venom as I could and replaced my finger back into her and smeared the venom on her now parted maidenhood to making sure it didn't heal back together again.

Isabella hissed once the foreign venom came in contact with the open wound, but I shushed her trying to comfort her again telling her that it was almost over. Once satisfied with my work and not feeling Isabella squirm any longer I began stroking her with the one finger until she began to moan in pleasure once again bringing a smile to my lips. After a few seconds I added another trying to stretch her enough to enter her without pain and then began to speed up my movements until Isabella was screaming my name. Listening to her moan and finally hearing her scream my name made me so hard that I couldn't believe that I hadn't cum without even being inside of her.

Not being able to stand it any longer I slowly moved up, placing myself over Isabella and took my manhood into my hand and began moving my manhood between her folds coating myself with her juices and then slowly pushed myself between her wet folds. Isabella gasped when she felt the intrusion not because she'd wished that I would stop, but she felt how huge I was as I stretched her walls while moving deeper into her. Once fully sheathed inside of her I couldn't help but moan, loving the feel of being so deep inside her tight wet walls.

"Oh God my love you feel so good, so tight," I said only managing to speak in a whisper. Once I was satisfied that she was comfortable with my intrusion I began to move out and then back in slowly causing Isabella to moan herself, as she began to move with me. After a while I could feel she was getting close to her finish when she began to lose the rhythm that we were in. I sat up on my knees bringing Isabella with me as she straddled my hips. I placed my hands on her hips and began to thrust deep into her once again bringing us both close to our end again.

Isabella laid her head on my shoulder and began to pant as I began moving at a faster pace. When Isabella hit her peak she screamed my name, and at that moment I decided I wanted to hear her scream my name often. I hit my peak shortly after moaning with a low growl as I buried my head into her shoulder.

After a few seconds I lowered Isabella back to the bed and lay down next to her as Isabella whined at the loss of my manhood, bringing another smile to my lips as I pulled her to rest on my chest. After regaining our breath I moved down until our faces were even with one another. I then reached over and moved the hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. I softly stroked her cheek with the back of my hand and stared into her beautiful eyes.

 **(End of lemon)**

"I want you to move into my suite of rooms with me," I said softly.

"Really, why?" she asked in a confused tone.

"Because I wish to never be parted from you again. And at the end of the day I wish to come to my rooms and find you there," I divulged. Isabella smiled at me as I leaned in and lightly kissed her lips. "Do you agree to do this for me?" I continued. Isabella didn't say anything, she only smiled and nodded her head as confirmation. "Good," I said as I rolled her over on her back and kissed her more fiercely this time. We made love for the rest of the night until a knock came on her door the next morning disturbing our private little bubble, which upset me immensely. After answering the door I was told that Aro needed my presence in his office immediately. After dressing and before leaving I told Isabella that Demetri would help her practice with her gift again this morning, bringing a moan of bewilderment of being afraid of hurting him again, but I ignored her fear knowing it would come to nothing and continued telling her that she would also be taking up her fight training with Felix this afternoon. I kissed her softly before leaving her room to see what my brother found that was of such dire importance that he would take me away from my beloved.

 **A/N:** Let me know what you think...thanks, huggs.


	7. Chapter 7

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 7**

 **Caius P.O.V.**

As I walked through the corridors of the castle heading for Aro's office I couldn't help but relive the past few hours I spent with Isabella. Her soft warm skin up against my own gave a sense of being human once again, or at least what a human would be feeling at the moment; it had been a very long time since I was one after all. I could still smell her scent as I'm sure it still clung to my body, which made me smile knowing all who would come in contact with me would smell her sweet scent wafting off of me.

She was becoming a part of me in every sense of the word and I knew that I would never ever be apart from her during our existence in this life, or at least until my true mate makes herself known, in which case Aro was right. I may never meet her, and if I do it won't be for some time. Hopefully for hundreds of years. The thought of finding her and hurting the beautiful woman that I just left made me shiver. I truly did not want to hurt her and wanted her in my life for eternity.

I approached Aro's door and once again he spoke before I knocked, telling me to enter. I opened the door and glared at him for taking me away from the glorious creature known as Isabella Swan. Aro smirked, probably still reveling in the idea of what Isabella might be becoming.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your time with your mate, Caius, but I have contacted Eleazer and he is on his way back at my insistence. He should be here in the next couple of days."

"And you thought this couldn't have waited until later, after I have left Isabella, to give me this news?" I asked, feeling irritated at his intrusion.

"Oh come now, Caius. We do have our duties to perform today as we do every day. You'd have to pry yourself from her at some point. I just thought I'd let you in on what is at hand before we perform our duties today. No harm done," Aro said nonchalantly as he rose from his seat and led us out of his office to perform said duties.

I grumbled, knowing he was right but hating the thought of leaving my angel nonetheless.

 **xXx**

 **Isabella's P.O.V.**

After Caius had left I pouted for a few minutes at his loss before climbing out of the bed and walking over to the bowl and pitcher, pouring the water into the bowl. I cleansed myself from head to toe and dried off accordingly before once again dressing in the man's clothing provided in the closet. Then I sat waiting for Demetri to join me to restart my lessons in learning my gifts. To tell the truth, I hated the thought, for I didn't want to hurt him any more than I had already. I made up my mind to at least try and keep some sense of control while training in hopes I wouldn't cause him more harm. It wasn't like I had any choice in the matter, especially if I wanted to control the gifts that I had - and I definitely didn't want to hurt anyone else.

After a few minutes a knock came to my door. Instead of moving I commanded for Demetri to enter. The door opened slightly as Demetri stuck his head in and looked around, probably making sure Caius wasn't present. He smiled and opened the door more fully and entered my room.

"Good morning, Isabella. Are you ready to continue your lessons?" He asked as he walked across the room and took a seat in one of the padded chairs across from me. I smiled and nodded.

"Good morning, Demetri, and yes I am ready, I just hope I don't cause you any more harm than I have already," I said with my head lowered looking towards my hands I was fiddling with in my embarrassment.

"Come now, Isabella, none of that now. You cannot take blame for something you did not know existed within you. Besides, no harm done. I am more durable than you might think," he said. Making me smile, his comment made me feel more at ease.

We trained for an hour or so before he left, reminding me to go to the training room to meet with Felix for my fight training. I didn't know this Felix person, but when I arrived and he introduced himself I gulped at seeing this hulk of a man...or vampire, I guess I should say. He was huge. How in the world was I expected to stand up to this gargantuan vampire? Just the size of him scared the living bejeezus out of me.

"Do you remember all of what Master Caius explained and showed you yesterday?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Yes, but I can't hold my own with you; you're huge. You could smash me into little pieces, probably without even trying," I said with a shudder. He laughed loudly, and his laugh echoed, vibrating off the walls around us.

"I won't hurt you, little one. Besides, size doesn't matter if you're skilled with the right training, and Master Caius would beat me into little pebbles if I attempted to harm you. Come, I will teach you how to take down someone even my size with no trouble at all," he said as he took up his fighting stance.

After another hour of training in the art of fighting, and without getting harmed too much, Felix had me pinned to the floor growling into my face, which scared me half to death. Without my permission, my bubble made another appearance, shoving him off me and throwing him across the room. I gasped, sitting up and placing my hand over my mouth in disbelief as this beast of a vampire pulled himself off the floor and bellowed a laugh once again.

"Do not stress yourself, little one. I am fine and am happy that you are able to defend yourself even against someone my size," he said as he walked back to me and put out his hand to help me to my feet. We heard someone clapping, drawing our attention to the door where Aro stood with a huge smile his face.

"My dear Isabella. I was told of your gifts and am glad to finally see one of them with my own eyes. It is spectacular, child, you are a wonder to these old eyes and I long to see what other gifts you pick up along the way," Aro said. As he said this I still was holding Felix's hand and all of a sudden images flashed before my eyes. It was Felix, and I began seeing his life (or what I assumed was his life) flash before my eyes. Him as a child, growing into a man, and fighting in an army. His dress was what I thought the Romans of old would wear, and his strength was admirable taking down many as he made his way across a battlefield. It then turned to him in a pub of sorts and him leaving said pub and walking down an alleyway and running in a vampire who turned him. After his turn he found his way to the Volturi and that is where he stayed. Many things flashed before me before I gasped and pulled away from him and stared up at the huge vampire in shock.

"What was that?" I asked after staring at him for a few seconds.

"What was what?" He asked, frightened for me after seeing the fear in my eyes, but he was interrupted by Aro who butted in.

"What happened, Isabella?" Aro asked, walking over and standing in front of me. I looked at Aro and shook my head.

"I don't know, I think I just saw Felix's life flash before my eyes," I told him, looking back at Felix whose eyebrows arched up on his forehead. Aro clapped his hands together and laughed heartily before speaking.

"Oh child, you have absorbed my gift...how wonderful. Soon you will absorb all the gifts in the castle, how marvelous that will be," he said while still laughing. I gasped at hearing this and shook my head, not wanting to go through this, and if I could cry I would have had tears streaming down my face. My eyes filled with venom as I lowered my head and wrapped my arms across my chest trying to hold myself together. Why was this happening to me I thought, wanting to run away and hide within my room. But without being dismissed I could only stand there in sadness.

We hadn't stood there long before I heard his voice. "Aro, leave her alone. Can't you see she is distressed?"

 **xXx**

 **Caius P.O.V.**

I was walking down the corridor going to the training room to meet with Isabella when I heard Aro's voice telling her that she had just absorbed his gift and making a big deal out of it. I knew with the way Isabella handled the last gift she received that this too would distress her and hurried to my destination. When I walked through the door I could see her holding herself together with her arms wrapped tightly around herself and she had her head lowered. I was sure she would have run away if she wasn't in the presence of my brother and only stood in her place out of respect for him. I shook my head. I knew this would happen. This is why I told her to come to me with anything she didn't understand or if Aro starts, which is what he was doing now to some extent.

"Aro, leave her alone. Can't you see she is distressed?" I said, as I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her pulling her to my chest. I could feel her relax with my touch which made me smile and kiss the top of her head.

"My excitement wasn't meant to cause her stress, Caius. I was only excited for her. This is wonderful, Caius," he said.

"Exciting for you, Aro, not for her. This is new to her and frightening. She may not be a newborn, but she was alone for some time and all this is new to her, frightening to her. Let her absorb all of this before we jump at her with our own excitement, shall we?" I demanded. I may not demand much, but she is my mate and what happens to her is my responsibility, not his, and I will see it so.

Aro looked abashed and then sighed. "I am sorry Isabella, I was so lost in my excitement I didn't think of what this was doing to you, please forgive me. Once you have gotten used to the idea of your gifts we will talk again," Aro said.

"No, Aro. Isabella is my mate and if you have something to say to her I will be at her side or you will talk directly to me," I told him. This was our way and he knew it.

Any mated female was not to meet with any other male vampire if mated, without said mate at her side, and that includes the three of us. Oh sure, there were times when we allowed the female to talk to other males, but only if they were friends or had been friends for many years, but as far as the three of us, we are not above the law, although Aro thought differently. Many times we just let it slide, but he would be put in his place when it came to many of the mated females by their mates. What could he say, he was excluded from the laws? I think not.

 **oooOooo**

It had been many years since Isabella joined the Volturi. She had absorbed every single gift that the vampires had that lived here in the castle, or those she came into contact with since, and we have had many come through our gates. She is somewhat at ease with them now and Aro has tried many times to get her to join his elite guard. As promised, she has come to me for assistance, and I always nipped it in the bud immediately.

She and I have grown closer, and our sex life is spectacular. I long to be with her when days seemed long, and even when they are not. She eases me when I am upset about something or when I've had a long day she meets me with her bubbly presence, and we've grown to love one another. She has grown close to most of the vampires in the castle. Oh sure, there are a few jealous females that dislike her, but she lets it slide off her like water off goose feathers. She is a magnificent vampire and seems born to be one.

Isabella and I were walking back to our room after leaving the training room when we heard a voice call for her from behind us. We both turned to face a male vampire. She drew my attention to her when she gasped out after seeing this male.

"You...you're a vampire?" she said in a shocked voice.

"I'm afraid so. After drawing the attention of our attacker he bit me and heard a noise and took off. It seems he had bitten you as well. I wish I had known or I would have stayed behind and we could have figured things out together. I'm sorry, Isabella, that this has happened to you," he said.

"No, I'm sorry. If I hadn't followed you I wouldn't have been attacked and maybe you could have fought off your attacker. I'm sorry, but I'm at a disadvantage, I gave you my name before I had a chance to ask you yours," she said as I listened to them discuss their meeting from long ago. I realized from their discussion that this must be the man (or vampire I guess now) who tried to save her life when she was changed. I remember when he came to us a few days ago not realizing there was a ruling government kept in place over the vampire race. I didn't put two and two together at the time because unfortunately there are many vampires out there that do not make sure their food is disposed of properly, hence the reason so many of our lesser guards are sent out to take care of rogue vampires that are exposing our race to the human world. This male was one of those, but like Isabella he had good reflexes when it came to hiding himself. His only difference was his choice of diet; he fed off animal blood not wanting to kill humans. It sounded disgusting to us, but to each his own.

"That's right. Well let me remedy that. Carlisle Cullen at your service ma'am," he said with a bow of his head. Isabella giggled. She giggled! "What the hell?" I thought with disdain. I glared at the vampire before us and pulled Isabella tighter to my side and let out a low growl. Isabella patted my chest as if to say it was alright, as she explained how she knew this vampire. Of course I had figured that out, but that didn't give her a right to giggle for this male vampire.

"Forgive me, your highness, it's just that I haven't seen Isabella since our transition and often wondered what had happened to her. I was afraid to enter the town to find out if she lived and left the area immediately. You see my human father hunted demons and I was afraid he would find me and dispose of me. I am just so glad that she is okay," he explained.

"I'm glad you are okay as well, Carlisle. Will you be staying with us for long?" Isabella asked. I rolled my eyes with this comment, hoping he wouldn't stay long, but Aro had taken a liking to this vampire and asked him to stay as long as he liked, seeing that he had been alone for so long.

"I will be here for a while, I'm not sure for how long, but seeing you is a blessing. We should get together soon and talk, I mean with Master Caius's permission of course," he said as he looked back at me. I presumed he was asking for my permission to stalk my mate. I sighed and then answered.

"That would be my mate's decision," I said. If I knew anything about Isabella its how stubborn she could be about me making her decisions for her. Some more important decisions I downright insisted she abide by, but things such as this, meeting others or hunting with a female friend I let her decide. I knew if I put my foot down about meeting with this visitor she would make my life miserable and wind up hating me, so I had to trust that her love for me outweighed the jealousy I felt for in this male.

"Good, well, I guess I will see you soon," She said with a huge smile. I turned us quickly and took off for our room. I must have been pouting when I sat in one of the armchairs contemplating our meeting with our visitor, this Carlisle Cullen. The next thing I knew Isabella was on my lap and staring down at me. I looked up at her and gave her a small smile.

"What's come over you, Caius? We've been back in our rooms for some time now, and you've been sitting here with a book in you hands and have not looked at it once. What's got you so sidetracked?" she asked. I just stared at her for a few seconds before I grabbed the back of her neck and pressed my lips to hers and before she knew what was happening I had her in our bed completely naked and was making love to her like I had never done before. I wanted her to know that she was mine and no one else's. Afterwards she lay in my arms with her head resting on my chest as we regained our senses. She looked up at me resting her chin on my chest and spoke.

"This is about Carlisle, isn't it?" She asked quietly, knowing that it was. I knew she could read my mind as we touched. I only sighed, knowing I couldn't hide this from her.

"You talked to this male as if you've known him forever. Hell, you've only met him once and even then only a few words passed between you before you were attacked, but you still wish to talk to him as if you have so much to catch up on, and to top it all off you giggled, Isabella...giggled," I told her. I knew I sounded childish, but she was mine, my mate. Why did she have to go meet with this male vampire?

"Oh Caius, you silly goose. I love you and no one else could ever compare to you or what I feel for you, no one could ever take your place, and in a way Carlisle and I do need to catch up on things. Things that happened at the time and things that have happened since, and to be honest with you I'm kind of curious at what he's been doing since our change. My giggle was in relief, because I worried so much for this man at the time who rescued me from the clutches of that vampire; he could have killed me, Caius," she said. I looked down at her with a scowl, hating the fact that she could have died at a vampire's hand leaving me without her in my life, leaving me to my loneliness and despair. I shook off the thought and looked back at her.

"Curious, huh? Well, as long as that's all it is I see no need to worry," I said, not telling her my thoughts about what I'd be facing if she wasn't in my life. I guess I do owe this vampire for saving her, but she didn't need to know that. "Just remember, my love, you are mine. I will not release you to any other. I love you so very much, I couldn't stand to be parted from you...ever. I will kill any vampire that tries to take you from me.

"Then there's no need to worry, is there?" She said. I smiled and pulled her up until we were face to face and kissed her as if my life depended on it, and it had better not I thought as I continued to kiss her passionately.

 **A/N:** So Carlisle is finally back in the picture. Don't worry no one will come between her and Caius, not yet at least…(Evil laugh). Thanks for reading, please leave a comment to let me know your thoughts...thanks, huggs.


	8. Chapter 8

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 8**

 **Isabella's P.O.V.**

It had been a few days since I'd spoken to Carlisle. I was so surprised to see him, standing here in the castle. To see that he had survived as I did all those years ago.

I know he said he wanted to speak with me, but I also knew that Aro had been keeping him rather busy. It seems the two of them were getting along pretty well and never tired of speaking to one another. I couldn't imagine what the two of them could possibly find to talk about for so long, but it left me no time at all to have our own conversation.

I wonder sometimes if it hadn't been Caius who set it up just so Carlisle and I never got our chance to speak. I know Caius didn't like the idea of me conversing with Carlisle, even though he said it was alright. I didn't need any kind of gift to feel how jealous he was of Carlisle, even when I told him he had nothing to worry about. He knows I'm his and no one else's.

It's true that I worried about Carlisle at the time when he saved me from the vampire so many years ago, and I also still think of him from time to time, wondering what had happened to him. I wondered whether he was dead or turned as I was.

Maybe it's just plain old curiosity, but Carlisle has never been far from my thoughts throughout the years. Maybe it was the same reason I followed him when we were human, keeping to the shadows, and even after I heard what his father had said to him before I followed him as he took to the woods . There was just something that drew me to him; I can't explain it really, it's so confusing to me. I think I just need to talk to him, get to know him a little better and to find out what happened after I fell, we fell. Maybe that's the link to my unanswered questions, that we fell at the same time. I need to see if that connected us in some way.

I still have this deep curiosity to find out how he survived all those years. I think once I hear what he has to say I'll stop thinking so much about him, my curiosity will be satisfied, and I can continue on with my life - my life with Caius with nothing and no one standing in our way - and we can live out our lives for eternity.

I shook off these thoughts and found myself becoming bored. I'd been cooped up in this room for far too long. I decided to go to the library, find a good book and take it to the garden and relax in the fresh air and read. I always felt better out there so that is what I did.

Once I reached the garden and walked slowly around this spectacular place, I felt a peace overcome me. I stopped at the fountain and ran my fingers softly through the water, sighing softly and letting the quiet engulf me. That's when I heard the soft voice from the corner of the garden.

"It's beautiful here, isn't it?" he said as I turned to find who spoke those words. It was Carlisle, sitting all alone. He must have had the same idea I had off finding a quiet place to relax and read. I smiled as I walked over to him.

"Carlisle, I was beginning to think I'd never get the chance to speak to you," I told him. He chuckled and nodded his head.

"Yes, Aro is quite the spokesman," he said with a smile. "Won't you come and join me? Unless you have another engagement," he said.

"No, I have no other engagements. As a matter of fact, I'm glad you're here. I've been wanting to speak to you," I replied.

"Is it something specific or do you want to just chat?" He asked with another one of those enchanting smiles.

"It's curiosity mostly. I worried about you when we first met after the attack on both of us, and since then I've thought about you from time to time. I wondered if that vampire killed you or if you survived the attack, and if you did what has happened to you during that time."

"I see. I too wondered what happened to you after that time, if you lived or if the vampire had killed you. I never dreamed I'd find you here with the Volturi. Heck, I never even knew the Volturi existed until I ran into another vampire that told me of the three brothers who rule the vampire world."

"I too was surprised, but my meeting was more dire I'm afraid, Carlisle. Caius found me when I came face to face with a werewolf. Caius killed him as the guard he had with him took out the rest of their pack, and he brought me here when he found out that I had no knowledge of the vampire world," I told him.

"Werewolves?" He said with a shudder. "I've never had that pleasure, thank goodness. I'm glad Caius was there for you. That must have been very frightening for you," he said.

"Yes, it was, but Caius saved me, just as you saved me from the vampire," I said.

"I don't think saving you is the right word, Isabella. You were turned at that time as was I, but save you...no, I did not," he said sadly.

"Carlisle, that vampire could have drained me dry and would have, had you not drawn his attention. I may have been turned, but I didn't die, well, not completely anyway," I said with a chuckle. He didn't say anything else, only shook his head and looked down at the book he held in his hand. "Will you tell me what happened after the vampire pushed me away?" I asked. He looked up at me with a frown, and then began.

"When I saw the vampire bite you I knew I had to get his attention away from you. I was still alive after he tossed me into a tree. It did something to my back and I couldn't get to my feet so I crawled closer to the two of you and yelled at him, which got his attention and he threw you as he did me. He grabbed me and began to drain me dry when something drew his attention from me as well. I heard a sound, but I couldn't make out what it was. I'm sure with his vampire hearing he could, and dropped me and took off. I don't know how long I lay there burning, but when I woke it was still dark. I thought it was the same night considering I knew nothing about the transition period at the time," he explained. I nodded in understanding.

"Yes, that's what I felt when I woke. When I couldn't find you I thought that the vampire had killed you so I headed home. Knowing nothing about what I had become. Once I got home I found my mother and I was blinded with the b-b-bloodlust," I stuttered. I lowered my head as venom filled my eyes, and the guilt filled me once again. "I killed her," I whispered. I felt his hand take mine and give it a squeeze.

"It wasn't your fault. You didn't know what you were or what you were capable of. I think if she was here right now she would tell you the same," he said softly.

"Thank you. So tell me, what happened to you after you woke?" I asked still a little shaky, but still wanting to know.

"Well as I said, I thought it was the same day, and if I learned anything from my father it was about demons. From an early age my father drummed into my head about vampires, werewolves and other things that go bump in the night, and their feeding habits, so I knew a little about them, but nothing about their transition period. The first thing I did was look for you, but I couldn't find you. I wondered if he took you with him and prayed I was wrong, and then I thought maybe you had already woken from the burn and took off yourself. I prayed that you would be alright. It was then that I felt this horrible burning in the back of my throat. I knew from what my father had told me what it was, and I refused to kill a human to calm the burn. I suffered for days. I even tried to kill myself by jumping from a high cliff. I even tried drowning myself," he chuckled. There was no need for words to explain why we both chuckled. We both knew now that we didn't need air to breathe, but we wouldn't have thought of that back then.

"When all thoughts were exhausted on how to kill myself I was resigned to just starve myself. I found this cave and lay there for I don't know how long. It was then that I smelled this amazing aroma and it drew my weakened self from the cave. I dove for the creature I smelled and drained it of its blood; only then did I see it was a deer and it was also then that I realized I didn't have to kill humans to survive., So that's what I do now, I live on the blood of animals for my survival," he explained as I wrinkled my nose in disgust, and he chuckled when he saw my facial expression.

"You should try it, it's not as bad as it sounds, and it beats having to kill humans," he advised. He explained that he and Aro had talked extensively on the subject, but he had yet to talk Aro into trying his diet. I had to agree with Aro, it sounded disgusting.

"I, uh, don't think I'd be able to try that, Carlisle. I don't think my stomach could handle animal blood," I told him, still feeling a little sick at the notion.

"You're a vampire, Isabella. Your stomach's durable enough to at least try it," he told me.

After thinking about it for a few minutes I agreed I would try it, but with no promises of converting from human blood to animals. We continued talking for some time until the sky started to darken and I realized we had talked almost the entire day. He was so easy to talk with and I enjoyed our conversation. We decided it was time to retire and did so. Carlisle walked me back to Caius's and my room where we parted ways.

When I opened the door and entered our room I had a smile on my face from enjoying my day. Caius was there waiting for me and my smile dropped as I saw his face. He was obviously angry but was trying to hide it.

"Did you enjoy you day with our guest?" he asked a little forcefully.

"Yes, I did, Caius," I replied in the same manner.

"Then I take it you won't be spending any more time with the infamous Carlisle Cullen?" he asked.

"That depends on the length of his stay. I cannot run from him if we meet again now can I?" I asked demurely. He growled and stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him. I sighed, not knowing what else I could do to make Caius understand that Carlisle was just a friend. I know his mating bond with me was having trouble accepting that it was only that, being friends with Carlisle.

I resigned myself to thinking that Caius would have to work this out on his own. I changed into some clothing I could wear to hunt in and took off out of the castle, heading for the next town over. Once there I thought of what Carlisle had said and decided to try his diet. I went into the woods and was surprised to see Carlisle there. He must have had the same idea as I. He smiled when he saw me there in the woods and asked.

"Have you decided to try my diet?"

"Yes, I see no harm in at least trying it," I told him. He smiled and led me to where a herd of elk were drinking from a pond. He told me to let my instincts take over and that's what I did. I dove on one of the elk, sinking my teeth into his neck and drained him. When I dropped its carcass I scowled in disgust and turned to Carlisle who was just finishing draining his second elk. When he finished he laughed heartily at my facial appearance.

"Carlisle, that taste is disgusting, how can you live on their blood?" I asked.

"It does take a while to get used to, but to me it's better than killing humans. I have never tasted human blood so it was easier for me to adjust," he said with a chuckle.

"Well you can have your animal blood, Carlisle, I think I'll stay with my human criminal blood," I told him. He chuckled again.

"Well at least you don't drink from the sightseers that the brothers drink from," he said sadly. I nodded.

"Yes, I don't approve either, but it is not for me to judge. We are vampires after all, and humans are still our natural diet," I explained.

"I'm sorry, I meant no disrespect. I realize that the brothers are only following their true nature, I only offer a different way of life. It is up to you and the others to choose how you see fit," he said respectfully.

"No, Carlisle, I understand, but I must get back, Caius is probably looking for me. I hope to continue our conversation again soon," I told him.

"Yes, that would be very agreeable. Good night, Isabella," he said. I ran to the next town needing something more substantial to take the taste of that disgusting animal from my taste buds. I scoped out the area and after reading the minds of a few humans, found a murderer to quench my thirst and then headed back to the castle. I noticed that Caius still wasn't back so I washed up a bit and changed into something more comfortable. I grabbed a book and relaxed on the bed and read while waiting for Caius to join me.

 **xXx**

 **Caius P.O.V.**

I had finished with my daily duties and was walking back to my room when I passed the door leading to the garden and heard a familiar voice. I stopped and looked out the door to see Isabella and Carlisle speaking. They began to laugh and it sent a shock through my body. My jealousy raged as I instinctively ran to my destination, which was our room. I paced frantically waiting for my mate's return.

I waited for what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes, when I heard them say good night at the door. When Isabella walked into our room she was smiling, which pissed me off even further. When she saw my face I tried to cover my anger, but I knew I had failed when Isabella's smile faded from her face.

"Did you enjoy you day with our guest?" I asked a little forcefully.

"Yes, I did, Caius," she said back in the same manner.

"Then I take it you won't be spending anymore time with the infamous Carlisle Cullen?" I asked hopefully.

"That depends on the length of his stay. I cannot run from him if we meet again now can I?" she asked demurely. I growled, hating that she spent time with this man, this vampire. Instead of arguing with Isabella I stormed from the room and slammed the door behind me.

I needed to take my frustrations out on something so I fled to the training room and singled out one of the lower guardsmen, who shook when I told him to defend himself. I have to say he tried. He fought diligently, but in the end I tore him apart. I left Demetri to piece him back together and left for my office. On my way there Aro stopped me and pretty much ordered me into his office.

"What is it Aro, I have work to do!" I yelled.

"What has gotten into you, Caius? Beating one of the lower guardsmen, what has happened to put you in such a state?" he asked.

"Isabella and I had a argument, the reason why is none of your concern," I told him.

"Ah, I see. This is about Carlisle I take it?" I looked at Aro with surprise, _how does he know these things when they just happened? I guess he knew what I was thinking when he answered my question, which probably showed on my face._ "Caius, you should know that nothing gets past me in my own house, and you should also know that Carlisle is not a threat to you and your mate," he said. I just looked at him and growled.

"Why do you allow him to stay so long? He and his diet are disgusting. I want him gone, Aro, and the sooner the better," I argued.

"Carlisle is not threat to you or us. He has no gifts and he has a compassionate soul. I see no reason to send him away. You are just jealous of him and with no reason. If you wish to lose that sweet mate of yours keep up your state of mannerism and you will lose her. She will end her relationship with you and this coven will see her backside, and I for one do not wish to see her leave us. She is a great asset to us," he said.

I sighed, knowing he was right. I knew all he saw in Isabella was her gifts, but I saw something completely different, and I loved her with all I have. I just needed time to control my anger and then I would return to her and let her know how much I still loved her.

I left Aro's office and went into my own. I sat in my chair and leaned back with my hands behind my head, my fingers intertwined, staring at the ceiling. I thought of Isabella and Carlisle, and I knew they were only friends, but I felt there was something else going on - something none of us could see at the moment. I guess I felt that if he stayed around for any length of time he could possibly take her away from me, but Marcus hadn't said anything about there being any more than friendship between the two of them so why do I feel like there's more going on? I didn't know, but I did know that Aro was right. If I kept up this jealousy I held for this vampire, I would lose her and that is something I did not want.

After sitting there for most of the night thinking, I rose from my chair and ran to our room. Once inside I scooped my mate into my arms and kissed her passionately. "I'm sorry my love, I love you," I told her, bringing a smile to her face and another kiss that was led by her this time.

 **A/N:** What did you think of Caius's jealousy? Does he really think that Carlisle could take her away from him or is he just jealousy to have Carlisle near her, period?" Let me know what you think...thanks for reading, huggs.


	9. Chapter 9

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 9**

 **Isabella's P.O.V.**

It had been a few months since Carlisle arrival at the castle, and since my bout with Caius the last time I had hardly seen Carlisle at all. Aro kept him busy with their talks and I'm sure Caius was glad of that, but as for me I missed our little conversations even if they were short after our first time of speaking.

During the times I did see him after that first greeting we never spoke of our unfortunate turning again. Instead, we spoke of trivial things like the weather or what he and Aro talked about previously, mainly to get my take on their conversation. I was surprised to learn that Carlisle thought of going to the University to study to become a physician. I knew that he could control his thirst, but was he that good at controlling it? To be around humans that could possibly be bleeding out and to not want to drain them of what little was left in their very human bodies? I really didn't think anything would come of it even if he tried.

I was sitting in the garden reading once again after I finished my duties for the day when I heard the footsteps of someone approaching. I didn't look up to see who it was, for I thought that it might be Caius searching for me again. He had done this often since our visitor had arrived and after our little spat from my first interaction with Carlisle. I was surprised when I heard the soft voice of said vampire as he sat down next to me on the bench I was sitting on.

"Hello, Carlisle," I said, looking up at him with a soft smile.

"Hello, Isabella," he said with his own enchanting smile. "I wanted to come see you before I left," he said as my smile gave way to a frown.

"You're leaving?" I asked in a surprised voice. Carlisle chuckled with a nod.

"Yes, I think I've outstayed my welcome for now. Aro did asked me to stay, but I really want to try my hand at being a physician so I am applying at the University of London to see if I can do so. I don't know if I can do it, but at least I can say that I tried," he said with a smile.

"That's wonderful, Carlisle. I heartily wish for all your dreams to come true. I will also very much miss our little talks - and your company, of course," I said sadly.

He smiled and pulled me into a friendly hug and whispered, "I will miss our little conversations as well, Isabella. Take care of yourself and I'm sure we'll see each other again one day." Like a wisp of wind he was gone from my sight. I sat there saddened with the knowledge he was leaving, but I understood his desire to become a physician. I really did mean it when I wished his dreams would all come true, but I knew I would miss him very much.

After a few minutes I realized I didn't have the will to read any longer and closed my book and headed back to my room. When I entered I found Caius slipping on his cloak. He heard me enter the room and swung around with a broad smile on his face as he approached me and wrapped me in his arms.

"I'm glad you're back. You are needed in the throne room with the rest of the elite guard. We have a ruling to make on that vampire that exposed us to a human girl he fancied," he said, a little to happy for my taste with the fate of someone who would probably be executed.

"And this excites you, Caius?" I asked, appalled by his attitude. He looked at me and frowned until he realized what I was talking about.

"Oh...no. My happiness involves the fact that I will have you all to myself once again," he said as he smiled and kissed me passionately. I pulled away when I realized that he had heard that Carlisle was leaving and was happy about it. I turned away from him and went to the closet and retrieved my own cloak and slid it on. I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed that he thought so little of my own feelings. Carlisle is my friend and it saddened me that he was leaving. I needed his comfort, not his jubilation. I started for the door to do what I was asked to do when I felt Caius's hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at him and saw his smile had dissolved into sadness.

"I am sorry, my love. I know he is your friend. It was wrong of me to celebrate his leaving without taking your feelings into consideration. Please forgive me. I love you and never want to see you sad," he said pulling me into his chest and hugging me tightly. He kissed the top of my head. "You will see him again, I'm sure of it. Maybe he will even find a mate while he's out in the world," he continued. I looked up at him and smiled.

"That would be nice, I hope he does; at least he won't be alone in the world while he studies," I said. Caius smiled and pulled me to the door.

"We should go. My brothers are waiting for me, I'm sure," he said as we made our way to the throne room.

I felt better once Caius apologized, but I wasn't so sure he truly meant it. I knew he was jealous of my friendship with Carlisle and would be happy to see the backside of him, but I thought he should have some consideration for my own feelings. But he's gone now and I have Caius and all the others that live in the castle, where Carlisle would be alone and I worried about him. I hope that he does find his mate soon as Caius had suggested, or even a companion to travel with would be nice. I hated the thought of him being alone.

The days went on and turned into years as I lived in this dreary castle, with only Caius to keep me sane. Oh sure, I still traveled from time to time with my fellow guardsmen as companions as we went on missions, but Caius hated it when I left him so he pretty much put a stop to it in the end. My only security was the time I spent with Caius. I loved him so much and loved our times together, even though they were too few due to his duties as one of the Kings.

I wanted to travel to see the world and I even asked Caius if he would take me, but he refused, telling me he couldn't leave his brothers to take on all the responsibilities of their duties on their own. He said it wasn't that he didn't want to take me because he'd love to see the world as much as I would, but he was reluctant to leave. I was becoming miserable being stuck in this castle.

Even when I wanted to go shopping or into the city I had to take an entourage with me, for my safety, Caius explained. He said there were many vampires out there that would love nothing more than to have a chance to use me against him for their revenge against one of their rulings. I tried to tell him that they wouldn't last a second if they tried, for I would end them the very minute they touched me, but he wouldn't have it, and so here I am a prisoner in my own home - or so it felt anyway.

 **Carlisle's P.O.V.**

I really did enjoy my time with the Volturi. Aro had become a very good friend and I enjoyed the conversations we shared while I was there. I also enjoyed the times I spent with Isabella. She intrigued me at first. I knew she found me attractive when we looked into one another's eyes that day at the spring dance, and I remember her following me into the woods soon after when the vampire attacked us and turned us into what we are to this day.

Spending time with her did something to me. She was beautiful of course, but she was also charming and in some ways a little shy. I found her intelligent as well, and the more time I spent with her the more I started having feelings for her.

I knew it was impossible to share my feelings for her. She was Master Caius's mate. I didn't stand a chance with her unless I had a death wish, which I did not, but I couldn't stand to be very far away from her, and the more time I spent with her the more I would hurt knowing she would never be mine. That's when I knew I had to leave.

After telling everyone goodbye, including Isabella, which was the hardest thing I've ever done or probably will do, I hurried to gather my things and left. As I stood at the gate of the city I turned and looked back at the castle and whispered.

"I love you, Isabella Swan," and then ran, away from the Volturi and the one woman I knew I would love for eternity.

 **Caius's P.O.V.**

I was in Aro's office going over the details of a vampire that had exposed us to a human girl he had fallen in love with. Once he explained to her what he was, she fled and rejected him. We found the girl, and after making sure she hadn't exposed us further we ended her and put the vampire on trial. We had just finished interrogating the vampire and were discussing what was to be done with him when our visitor, and the bane of my existence, knocked on the door. Aro called for him to enter and he walked into the room apologizing for interrupting our meeting, but he wanted to say goodbye before he left.

I was shocked to hear this. I didn't even know he was thinking of leaving. I wondered why Aro hadn't told me of this before. He knew how it upset me that Carlisle was here and ingratiating himself with my Bella. _Why hadn't he told me?_ I thought again.

"You're leaving?" I asked with a shocked look on my face. He smiled at me and nodded.

"Yes, I have told Isabella goodbye, and now I must take my leave. Thank you, Aro, for allowing me to be a part of your coven these last few months, and I wish you and Isabella all the best, Caius," he said, which shocked me.

"I still wish you would stay, Carlisle, I will miss our conversations," Aro told him.

"I will miss them as well, my friend, but we will see each other again one day. The University awaits me and I long to learn my desired profession. Be sure to wish Marcus my best and extend my farewell to him. Goodbye, my friends," he said as he turned and exited the room. It was quiet for a few minutes when I looked over at Aro questioningly.

"Why didn't you tell me he was leaving? You knew how I felt with him being here, and you still left me to my misery...why?" I asked.

"Caius, don't be so melodramatic. I told you before, Carlisle was no threat to you, you are the one who made it harder on yourself. I told you he and Isabella were only friends," he said as he sat in his chair and sighed. "I will miss him though. There was an easiness about Carlisle that made him my friend and I will miss our conversations very much. I only wish I could have found a way to make him stay, but I could not. He is set on becoming a physician and is stubborn enough to see it through, I am sure," Aro said sadly.

"I am sorry you lost your friend, Aro, but I can't help but be happy to see the backside of him. Now maybe I can have my beautiful Isabella all to myself again," I told him. Aro only shook his head at my happiness.

Once we had resolved what to do with our prisoner, Aro told me to gather the elite guard to witness the vampire's execution. I left his office and went straight to Demetri and ordered him to gather the elite guards and meet me in the throne room immediately.

"Yes, master," he said and he ran to do my bidding as I went to change my cloak. I was just putting on said cloak when Isabella entered the room. I looked over at her with a big grin, not even noticing the sadness in her eyes.

"I'm glad you're back. You are needed in the throne room with the rest of the elite guards we have a ruling to make on that vampire that exposed us to a human girl," I told her, not explaining any further, still wearing the same grin.

"And this excites you, Caius?" she asked solemnly.

"Oh...no. My happiness involves the fact that I will have you all to myself once again," I said with a smiled and kissed her passionately. She pulled away and must have realized that I had heard that Carlisle was leaving and that I was happy about it. She turned away from me and went to the closet to retrieve her own cloak and slid it on. I couldn't help but see the disappointment on her face. After placing on her cloak she turned and started walking towards the door. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the loss she must be feeling at the losing of her friend, and here I stood gloating of his departure.I stopped her by placing my hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at me and it broke my unbeating heart to see the sadness on her face.

"I am sorry, my love. I know he is your friend," I said pulling her to my chest and hugging her tightly against me. I apologized and hugged her, sorry for her sadness but secretly happy he was gone." I kissed the top of my head as we stood there for a short period. "You will see him again, I'm sure of it. Maybe he will even find a mate while he's out in the world," I continued. She looked up at me and smiled.

"That would be nice, I hope he does, at least he won't be alone in the world while he studies," She said. I smiled and pulled her to the door.

"We should go, my brothers are waiting for us I am sure," he said as we made our way to the throne room.

As time went on Isabella seemed to be getting better, we were happier than we had ever been, or at least I thought so. She started joining the elite guard on missions again and that upset me dearly. I missed her when she wasn't around. I became more grouchy and terrorized the guards and my brothers I'm sure, until they agreed that Isabella shouldn't go on any more missions at least for a while.

That made me happy, but not so Isabella, she moped around the castle, bored to unshed tears. She even asked me to take her on trips around the world - and as exciting as that sounded, I could not leave my brothers to bear all the responsibilities of our duties alone, and told her so. She nodded sadly. I tried to make her as happy as I could but she just seemed so out of sorts lately. Oh, she enjoyed our time together of course, but her duties as a guard were failing to amuse her as they once did.

She was really upset when she wanted to go out into the city and do some shopping or to enjoy her time away from the castle and I told her she had to take a few of the guard with her to secure her safety. I explained that there were vampires out there that would love nothing more than to have a chance to use her against me for their own revenge against one of our rulings.

She tried to tell me the moment they laid one finger on her they would meet their end, and I knew she was right, but I asked her to please allow this for my own peace of mind. She sighed, but agreed.

The thing that happened within the next few day shocked us both, and probably, well it did devastate Isabella.

A/N: (This update was short, but it also sets up the next update. Sorry.) Let me know what you think...thanks for reading, huggs.


	10. Chapter 10

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 10**

I have been with the Volturi for a very long time now, at least one hundred and fifty years or thereabouts. As a member of the elite guard, it was decided by Caius (at Aro's orders) that I join my brethren in the throne room during their meeting with other vampires to hear their disputes between two covens over territory rights. When a decision was made over the outcome, the brothers would hand out judgments. It was for only a short period of time during the day, and I agreed.

I wanted to be part of the elite guard; I didn't want to be shown any special treatment. I wanted to do my part regardless of my status as Caius's mate, and Caius wanted me near him more than I had been as of late.

Since agreeing to be more active with the elite guard, I have been going on missions. I had not gone on many, but enough for Caius to begin missing me. I traveled with Demetri, Felix, Jane and her brother Alec. I enjoyed it, not so much the reasons for doing so, but for the traveling, seeing new places, meeting new vampires. Before Caius put a stop to it, long ago, I fed alone. The others alway fed on the innocent, but I only on criminals which left us separated at some point during our travels.

I have fed off humans since the day I was turned. I hated it, but it was the only thing that sustained us as vampires. That is until one day we were all in the throne room when Heidi brought in the humans so we could feed. I usually fed off criminals, as I said before, but for some odd reason today Aro insisted all the elite guards join him to show our allegiance to the Volturi, at least that's what everyone thought. Let me explain what led up to this and what happened shortly after and one of the reasons why it led me to follow Carlisle's diet. Carlisle, whom I still missed very much.

Caius had come to me one day and told me Aro wanted me and the rest of the elite guardsmen to attend one of their feeding sessions. I wasn't going to do it at first, but Caius explained that there were spies in our midst. He said the rest of the elite guard didn't know this, but Aro was going to read them all after we fed, hopefully with my help, and he was bringing them all into feed making them all think the brothers were honoring them for all their good work. Most of the elite guard hunted on their own because they liked the feel of hunting their own prey, so to offer them this would truly be an honor.

I told him this was good, anticipating that I really didn't have to feed off of the innocent humans, thinking Aro was only bringing me along to help him read the other vampires, but Caius said that I had to fed, and if I didn't Aro would think of it as an impertinent act on my part. Caius practically begged for me to do this for him, if you can believe it. So I agreed...for Caius.

I entered the throne room on Caius's arm. We walked up to the dias and Caius took his seat and pulled me into his lap. Aro look over at me with that evil smile of his that told me he was doing something devious and held out his hand for me to take. I took his hand, knowing that he couldn't hear my mind, but I could hear his. I began to hear thoughts of him thanking me for helping out with this. I sighed and with a nod of my head I let his hand drop and cuddled up with Caius as the room began to fill with the elite guard. Once they were all there I left Caius to his duties and joined my fellow guardsmen standing against the wall next to Demetri, our leader.

Soon Heidi entered the room with a large group of sightseers who wanted to see what the inside of this castle looked like, with Heidi as their guide. Once Aro greeted them the screaming began with Aro telling the guard to start feeding with only a nod of his head. Caius looked over at me and he too nodded As I looked into his eyes it was as if he was begging for me to feed. My stomach dropped, but I did tell Caius I would do this for him so I proceeded to walk across the floor and grabbed the first human I saw.

I had grabbed a young woman who couldn't have been more than thirty if she was a day. I drained her quickly and let her fall to the floor. It was then I looked down and saw a little girl who couldn't have been more than seven years of age. She was looking up at me with tears streaming down her cheeks. She was scared out of her mind and I realized the woman I had just fed from must have been her mother. If my cold heart could beat it would have stopped. I turned and looked at Aro, who was looking around the room enjoying what he was seeing, wearing an evil smirk upon his face. I then I turned to face Caius who was watching me, looking sad. I could see how he hated that he had made me do this for he too saw the small child crying and knew what this would do to me. From that day forward I have had a hard time feeding, and to top it all off, there were no spies. Aro only did this to show Caius that he led this coven and he wanted to make Caius see that even he would bend to his will even if it took using me to do so.

From that day forward every time I bit into a human, criminal or not, I saw that little girl staring at me scared and crying. I started putting off hunting for as long as I could until I couldn't stand it any longer, but even feeding off criminals still brought that little girl into my mind.

It had been months since I started this and it was then that I remembered my talk with Carlisle of how he fed from animals. The thought of drinking from animals disgusted me when he mentioned it before, but now I wasn't so sure of my decision not to at least try it.

" _You should try it Isabella, it's not as bad as it sounds,"_ Carlisle's words came clearly to my mind.

I had to at least try. My first time was a bear; he wasn't as tough as I thought he would be and when I sank my teeth into his neck it tasted musky and it almost turned my stomach - or as much as a vampire's stomach could be turned. But I didn't see that little girl's face as I fed and that was totally agreeable to me. It took a while for me to get used to, and even then I went between feeding off humans and animals at different intervals. It left my eyes the same color of blood-red, but with a tint of gold around the edges.

I skipped feeding with the others in the throne room even when Aro ordered us to, leaving a few hours before they fed so as not to be called to dinner so to speak, and nobody, not even Caius, ever said anything about it. Which was fine considering some of the guard chose to hunt their meals a lot of the time, so I felt I was safe for the time being, that was until one day I was called to Aro's office.

I didn't know what he wanted; I only hoped it was something guard related and I wouldn't have to explain my reasons for not joining them to feed in the throne room as he had ordered.

I arrived, and before I could knock on his door he called for me to enter. I walked in and saw him sitting behind his desk.

"Please, Isabella, be seated," he said opening his hand and motioning for me to sit in the seat opposite his desk. I sat and waited for him to begin speaking to tell me why I was there. After a few minutes of ruffling through the papers on his desk he glanced up, looked me in the eyes and smiled and then shifted his eyes back to his desk.

"Isabella," he began. "I've noticed that you've stopped joining us at feeding time even when I've ordered it. Do you not enjoy our company any longer?"

I sighed and looked down at my hands that lay comfortably in my lap. I didn't know how to explain any of what I was feeling, and I didn't want to tell him anything about that little girl, or my other reason for not joining them during feeding so I began with how I felt about wanting to have time to myself, which I desired sincerely.

"It has nothing to do with you or the company you keep, Master. I've just wanted some time to myself. I thought it best to hunt on my own, and at the same time it gives me time to think," I replied. It seemed I didn't have to explain about the little girl because Aro probably didn't see her anyway, but he did guess my other reason as he continued speaking after a short pause.

"Isabella, I understand you needing time to yourself, especially with everything that has come about. I know it has to be hard being in the same room with Caius and his true mate as we feed. I don't blame you for not wanting to be a part of that scene and it is fine that you hunt on you own," he said and then sighed.

 **(** Oh did I leave that part out? Yes, well, this happened after the feeding fiasco, where Aro was trying to show his dominance over Caius using me as the guinea pig, and the order to be in the room when the brothers were trying to settle a dispute over two covens fighting over one's territory.

So yeah, Caius has found his true mate. Something Caius had left out in the beginning when explaining to me that I was his mate. It seems that true mates and a mate are two different things. Let me explain what happened. A mate is more of a companion, where a true mate is our soulmate, a part of ourselves split apart at some point and then when finding one another again rejoined. It's supposed to be very rare, but...

When I was going through my bout of feeding off humans, Caius and I were in the throne room doing our duties as ordered. He was on his throne and I lingered against the wall with my fellow guardsmen, when a group of vampires entered complaining about another group of vampires taking over their territory. One of the women in the approaching group stood off to the side grumbling about something, of what she was complaining about I didn't know, and it really wasn't important to me especially since she was about to take my mate from me. With one look Caius was lost...at least to me, and with Marcus's gift that I absorbed I saw it as well.

Aro saw what had taken place and looked over at Marcus who was staring wide eyed so I guess he saw it as well and also saw what she would become to Caius. Aro was in complete shock at what had happened, and I knew his only thought was that he would lose me and tried to have the woman executed for her insolence to the crown, but Caius jumped to her defense and held the woman to his chest and yelled " _You will not hurt my mate"_ Of course the whole room heard this and that's not saying how the woman clung to Caius as well for all to see. As for me I stood there up against the wall with my fellow elite guardsmen feeling like the idiot I am for believing Caius's lies, or that's what I thought at the time, shunned by the man I thought was my soul mate.

By this time Aro ordered the room to be cleared, all but the group of vampires that stood before him, and as they all were leaving Aro looked over at me where I still stood in shock at what had just happened giving me a look of despair. His eyes traveled to Demetri and he nodded his head towards me giving him a speechless order to help see me out of the room. He grasped my arm and whispered for me to come with him and I moved with him not realizing I was even moving. He helped me to Caius's and my room and stayed with me, neither of us uttering a word the entire time, until later that evening when Caius relieved him.

" _I'm so sorry Isabella,"_ he said as I brought my distraught face up to greet his. I asked him what was going on. He sighed and sat on the bed next to me and explained the difference between a mate and a true mate. I asked him why he hadn't told me of this before. He replied by saying he didn't think it would happen and how rare it was, that only two in our realm have ever found them, Marcus and Aro. He told me it didn't change how he felt about me, that he still loved me, but...he stopped and lowered his head, and I finished for him. " _You love her more."_ It wasn't a question; it was a fact. I was replaced by the woman with long red hair and the body of a goddess who stood in the throne room. I later learned her name was Athenodora.

For the last few months I had been struggling not only with my diet, but now with staying away out of sight of Caius and his new mate. I had seen them together a few times and it made me feel like my heart was being ripped from my chest. I had thought many times about leaving the Volturi and traveling, not wanting to see the two new lovebirds together. It was killing me. Now I was being called to Aro's office to what I was sure was an appeal to keep me here, and I was right as I sat there listening to his pleas. **)**

"You know how we feel about our true mates, and how it is unavoidable once we find our other half. It is regrettable that we have to disregard our companions, especially ones we've spent many years with, but it is what it is and nothing can be done about it," he continued. I nodded my head in understanding.

But my dear, I hate seeing you so down all the time. I hope it doesn't sound unfeeling to say, with regard for your mental health, there are other options," he said and then paused once again.

"Options?" I replied. He nodded his head.

"As I said, true mates are sacred to us, but there are those of us that have left a companion behind to be with our true mates. That doesn't mean that they automatically stop loving the ones they've left behind. Some of those true mated couples still spend time with their companions, in secret of course," he said.

I considered this for a minute, thinking this has to be him he's talking about seeing that he and Marcus and now Caius were the only truly mated couples. I knew it wasn't Marcus, for he had lost his true mate and he wasn't of a mind to do anything with any woman. That left me as the only other companion, and I knew it wasn't me, which left him, and immediately I felt sorry for his mate, Sulpicia.

I looked at him with a furrowed brow, just realizing what he was saying. He was suggesting that Caius and I could sneak behind Athenodora's back and have an affair. Did he think so little of me that he thought I could do such a thing? He must have seen my reaction and quickly went in a different direction.

"Of course there are many single males in the castle that would love to spend time with you, Isabella. I've seen many that give you the eye-as they say," he said with a chuckle. "Demetri for one has adored you from afar since you've joined us, but was too afraid of Caius to try his hand at being with you. I don't mean to disrespect you, my dear. I only worry about you and want to see you happy once again. The last thing I want is for you to leave us because my brother has found his true mate."

And there it was … he was worried I'd leave the coven. He couldn't care less about my feelings.

"Master Aro, I am sad to lose the love of a special man such as Caius, but believe me when I say that I am truly happy that he has found his soulmate. I only want what is best for him, and Athenodora is what makes him happy. I would not or never could be with Master Caius again especially since he has found his true mate. I wouldn't disrespect her or him as far as that goes, in such a manner, and as far as Demetri or any other male in the castle I couldn't use them in that manner even if they cared for me. I'd have to care about them a great deal to allow them to enter my bed," I explained respectfully, holding back the scream I really wanted to release at his insolence.

"And as for leaving the coven…I won't lie to you, Master Aro, I have thought about leaving to do some traveling, but I haven't made up my mind about that as of yet. If I do decide to leave you will be the first to know, I can promise you that."

Aro lowered his head and I could see the wheels turning in his head. I have seen how he manipulates some of the vampires in this coven to do his will, and I didn't need to touch him to know what he was thinking. He was trying to figure out a way to keep me here in any way he could.

My gifts have grown being in this coven. With all the gifted vampires that have passed through here, and with me being a sponge, I've picked up many gifts. I knew Aro sometimes thought of me as a liability, someone who could take down the Volturi easily by myself.

He couldn't have me wandering around the world as powerful as I was, and with the way his mind works the first thing he'd think was that I would try to take away his throne; not that I would. Why in the world would I want to rule the vampire world? it was a ludicrous idea. He was insane if he thought I wanted that, but then again who ever said Aro was sane.

"Isabella, please get those thoughts out of your mind. I would hate to see you leave us. You are the best guard I have. If you leave you would leave this coven open to those who wish us harm, surely you wouldn't leave us in such peril?"

"As I said, I will let you know, but I haven't made up my mind yet, Master."

Aro looked at me and paused for a few seconds and then nodded his head.

"Thank you Isabella, please inform me of your decision. I hope you decide to stay. You may go my dear, and think about what I said. I only want what's best for you and what will make you happy."

"Thank you Master," I said as I stood, bowed my head, and left his office. I knew he would try to find a way to keep me here, but I also knew that there was no way he could if I decided to leave.

A few days had passed and I was in my room getting ready for my day when a knock came to my door. "Come in," I called as the door opened. I knew by his scent who it was, but turned to see just the same.

"Bella," he called as he entered using his pet name for me. I hated to be called Isabella. My friends always called me Bella, but not Caius he only used Bella as a pet name for me, a term of endearment if you will. "May I have a few minutes of your time?" Caius asked as he walked across the room and stood at my side. I knew Aro had sent him to talk me out of leaving. I hadn't had a minute with Caius since he laid eyes on his true mate, well, except for the time he came to me and told me what had happened, but not since.

"Of course Master Caius," I replied. Caius sighed at how I greeted him.

"Bella, you don't have to call me that while we're alone," he explained.

"You are one of our leaders and we are no longer together. It would be disrespectful to not greet you as such," I said sharply, but not meaning to. I guess I was still a little hurt.

"Bella," he said softly as he pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear as he kissed my temple. "I still love you, you know that," he whispered into my ear and softly rubbed my back. I sighed and moved away from him. I crossed the room and sat at my dressing table and began brushing my hair. He walked over to me and moved my hair from my shoulder and began kissing my shoulder which sent shivers down my spine. I closed my eyes trying to get control over my emotions before I spoke.

"Caius," I spoke and shrugged my shoulders causing him to stop what he was doing and look at me through the mirror. "Aro sent you, did he not?" I asked, knowing it was true. He sighed and stood up.

"What makes you think that?" he asked, acting hurt that I had rejected him. I guess I did, but I knew what he was doing.

"Because of the talk I had with Aro a few days ago. I knew he'd come up with something to try and stop me from leaving."

"So you are leaving?" he asked sadly. "Is it because of me, because I've found my true mate?" he asked. I looked at him through the same mirror and shrugged my shoulders. "Love, you know I have no control over such things," he said, irritated. I slammed my brush on the table before me and stood up and glared at him.

"Look, Caius, I understand you had no control over what happened, and although it hurts and probably will for a very long time I'm still happy that you found your soulmate. I only want what's best for you, and Athenodora seems to make you happy, but I don't wish to stay here and watch as the man I love is happy with someone else. I don't appreciate your brother sending you here to convince me to stay. I didn't say I was leaving, only thinking about it, but…" I said leaving all else unsaid with a sigh. Caius sighed as well as he walked up to me and placed his forefinger underneath my chin and raised my head to look me in the eyes.

"But you can't stand to see me with another woman when you still have feelings for me," he said simply. I nodded my head in answer to his question.

"How would you feel if you saw me with another male?" He thought for a few seconds and sighed again.

"I wouldn't like it," he said.

"And I wouldn't blame you. Aro thinks I should find someone else to warm my bed … someone from this coven. I just can't do that to you or to me. I wouldn't feel comfortable, Caius," I said with a shaky voice and if I could cry I would have tears streaming down my cheeks. He nodded as he pulled me to his chest and held me for a few minutes. I soaked up the feel of him by being in my arms, knowing it would probably be for the last time and when he pulled me away and looked me in the eyes, I felt the loss of being parted from him once again.

"I understand my love, if you must go then go. Leave Aro to me. Just leave a contact number with us in case something happens and we need your help. Can you do that for me?" he asked and I nodded my head sadly. "When will you leave?" he asked.

"By the end of the week I guess," I told him, so I guess my mind was made up. I was leaving to be alone once again. It had been so long since I was alone, the only difference now is I would go with knowledge of the vampire world and with my many gifts.

He nodded and leaned down and placed his lips on mine, kissing me passionately. I allowed the kiss only because I knew it was his way of telling me goodbye. I melted into his chest feeling every nerve in my body relax and form to his body. When he pulled away I felt lost, hurt and sad all at the same time.

"I will miss you my love," he softly said as a tearless sob rumbled from deep in my chest. He hugged me once again and whispered into my ear. "I'm so sorry Isabella," he said as he pulled away and hurried from the room leaving me empty inside.

I swallowed hard to keep the tearless sobs away and pulled myself together and began to start my packing. I didn't have much to pack and knew I couldn't take much with me anyway. By the end of the week I walked away from the castle with no good-byes and I never looked back.

 **A/N:** Well, it seems Bella is going through a bad time, more than she dreamed possible...It will be a while before she meets up with Carlisle again, but bear with me, it will happen...Let me know what you think...Thanks for reading, bigg huggs.


	11. Chapter 11

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 11**

 **Caius's P.O.V.**

I can't believe this is happening. All I ever wanted was to make Isabella the happiest that I could. Then she would go on those damnable missions. I hated it, but Aro keep pushing me to let her go, " _Let her go,"_ he'd say. " _Let the world know how powerful she is and that she belongs to us, Caius,"_ he'd say. Always pushing, constantly nagging," _it's for the good of our coven to show how powerful we are,"_ he'd say. But I couldn't stand it any more. I missed her so badly and finally made her stop going.

It wasn't long before Aro started again, " _she's part of the elite guard, Caius. She needs to be in the throne room with the others during trials. You know she'd want this; she doesn't like being singled out above the others,"_ he'd say. I didn't care what Aro said, I didn't want Isabella around all that death, but there were times when Isabella would say she was going whether I liked it or not, and I was glad to some extent. I did miss her and having her by my side made me happy, but it wasn't an everyday thing unless Aro would order for her to be there, which royally pissed me off.

I remember this one time, Aro came to me and told me to have Isabella in the throne room that evening. He said that he had gotten news of there being a spy in our midst and that person was part of the elite guard. He needed Isabella there to help him read the guardsmen to find the traitor and he was using having the guard join us at meal time as a ruse to make them think they were being honored for the hard work. As I was leaving his office he stopped me by saying, " _oh, and Caius, she will have to feed with the rest of us. Is that understood?"_ He demanded. I just looked at him between narrow eyes and stormed out of his office. He knew Isabella only fed off criminals and I knew then he was using her to get to me. Letting me know that he ruled ahead of me and Marcus. I heard him laugh as I walked down the hall. The arrogant fool.

I went straight to Isabella and told her that she had to join us at feeding time that evening, but she refused to go. I told her that Aro demanded that she be there because he had gotten news that a trader had infiltrated the elite guard and he needed her help to read the group after they fed. She then agreed, thinking she didn't have to feed with the rest of us, but soon deflated when I told her that she had to feed with us because Aro would take it as an impertinence against him if she didn't. She argued with me for a while, and it took me almost begging her to do this for me until she finally agreed, but unhappily.

That evening when the time came to feed, Aro ordered the guard to feed. I looked over at Isabella and I could see the sadness in her eyes at not wanting to do this and I hated myself for making her do this. I hated myself even more when I saw the small child that stood at her feet after she drained the young woman and realized that the child belonged to the woman she'd just killed. The pain I saw in her eyes nearly brought me to my knees. I had made her do this, and it was only for Aro's vanity, to prove he led this coven.

Since then Isabella was having trouble feeding even on the criminals that she had always fed from. I knew this not because she told me, but because I noticed she was holding off as long as she could before feeding. I never said anything to her because I knew it was my fault that she was having such a hard time with this. I also figured out that she was to some extent using Carlisle Cullen's diet. I could tell that she was still feeding on humans because her eyes stayed the same color, but there was a gold tint to them making me guess she was also feeding from animals, but as I said I never said anything about it, because this too was my fault.

It was a few months later when Aro started again. He wanted Isabella to attend a meeting with the guard to watch the proceeding involving a coven's dispute over another coven trying to take over their territory. I saw no harm in Isabella joining us and asked her to join the guard during these proceedings, but now I wished I hadn't, and I'm sure Aro wishes he hadn't ordered it either.

Everything was going great. The elite guard was standing in their usual place surrounding the wall of the throne room, I looked over at Isabella and smiled at her and she returned my smile as Demetri and Felix brought in the coven to voice their concerns. I immediately saw the leader of their coven walk in, he was a large vampire and his face was marred with a frown, do to the circumstances I'm sure.

They weren't a large coven; there were only four of them, and it was then that I heard a female voice mumbling that they should have just killed the other coven and been done with it. My eyes followed the sound of her voice, and when our eyes met I was lost. There standing in front of me was my true mate. I felt the energy pass through my body as if I was struck by lightning. All else left me, the reason for this meeting, Isabella, the guard, my brothers - none of them existed only this angel who stood before me. I knew nothing until I heard Aro demand that this woman be taken and executed for her insolence to the crown. I jumped from my chair and ran, grabbing this woman and holding her to my chest, screaming, "you will not kill my mate!" Of course everyone stopped in their tracks and silence reigned over the hall until Aro ordered the room to be cleared of all but the coven and ourselves, but even then Aro and Marcus left the room as well, leaving me and the complaining coven alone.

I leaned down and pulled the angel in my arms away from my body somewhat and asked. "What's your name?"

"Athenodora," she said.

"Do you know what just happened?" I asked.

"I think so, you are my mate, right?"

I smiled with a nod, "yes, but it's more than that for you are my true mate, my love, and I will never let anything or anyone ever hurt you again," I told her and meant every word of it.

"Does that mean I will become a queen?" she asked and I couldn't help but laugh loudly at her question.

"We will see, my love, we will see," I said as I led her to my office to be alone with her to get to know her better, but as I entered my office I found Aro pacing thunderously while Marcus sat in a chair off in the corner staring at the two of us.

"Aro, what in god's name are you doing here?" I asked loudly. He ignored me and called for Jane.

"Jane," he called and as Jane entered the room he continued. "Jane take this woman and her coven to the guest rooms and see that they are taken care of. I need to speak to my brother alone," he demanded.

"Yes, Master," Jane said and led the woman from the room as I watched the love of my life leave and felt a tugging in my chest at her departure.

"Aro, what is the meaning of this?" I demanded.

"What is the meaning of this? Have you not forgotten something, brother, or someone I should say?" He asked hatefully.

"What are you going on ab…," I froze to the spot where I was standing and stared at my brother as he nodded his head, understanding that I had just remembered someone else and I realized she was in the room when all this had taken place. "Oh god," I mumbled.

"Yes, Isabella was in the room and since she shares Marcus's gift I'm sure she too knows what has happened, Caius. I just hope to god that you have explained the difference between a mate and a true mate," he said causing me to groan. "No … no. You haven't, have you? Oh lord, Caius, if that girl leaves this coven I will kill you myself. So you'd better make damn sure she doesn't. Do whatever you can to keep her here. I mean it, Caius whatever it takes. Do you understand me?" He shouted.

It was a demand, not a question, but that made no difference to me now. All I knew was I had to talk with Isabella. I only hoped she wouldn't hate me for putting her through all this. I still loved her, but Athenodora was my everything, my world now. I couldn't live without her. I hated hurting Isabella, but this couldn't be helped. I thought for sure I'd never meet my true mate; it was supposed to be rare, very rare. Who would have thought that she would march into my life this way. What was I supposed to do, stay single for eternity not knowing if I would ever meet my true mate? I sighed, knowing I was trying to make excuses for what had happened, but there were no excuses for this. It couldn't have been foreseen.

Aro left my office followed by Marcus, who patted my shoulder as they left. I sat at my desk pondering what I was going to say to Isabella. She must have been horrified when this happened. My poor Isabella, but I guess she is no longer my Isabella, is she? My feelings for her still hadn't changed, which made this all the harder. How would I ever make this up to her? I couldn't. I knew this. I could only explain things to her and hope she'd get over me at some point, but I knew it would be hard for her, and that made me sad.

I knew Aro could give two flying fucks in the wind about Isabella's feelings. His only thought was to make sure she stayed with the coven, and if Isabella decided to leave because of this I knew there was nothing he or I could do to stop her, she was just too powerful. But I didn't want her to leave either, not for the same reasons as Aro, but just knowing she was here made me feel warm all over. If worse came to worse and she really wanted to leave I knew I wouldn't stop her.

It had been a few months since my talk with Isabella. I hated hurting her the way I did, but I think we left each other as friends or as much as we could be in our situation. Even though I still loved Isabella, I loved my new mate a thousand times more.

A knock came to my door one day. When I answered I was told that my brother, Aro, wished to speak to me. I left my mate in bed where I had just made passionate love to her and went to meet with my brother.

"What is it, Aro?" I asked as I entered his office and found my brother pacing once again across his office floor. He had taken to doing this a lot lately, and I knew it was always due to his fear that Isabella would leave us, but it had been months and I doubted very much that she was going anywhere.

"You have to talk to Isabella," he said in an irate voice.

"What, why?" I asked, not a bit surprised at his order.

"I had a talk with her a few days ago and she is thinking of leaving us," he said.

"What are you talking about, brother? What exactly did she say?" I asked, thinking he was letting his imagination run away from him again.

"I tried everything I could think of to help her get through this, Caius, and she admitted to me that she was thinking about leaving and doing some traveling. I have racked my brain trying to figure out a way to keep her here, but she wasn't having any of it. You have to talk to her and make her see reason and make her stay with us!" He growled.

I sighed and sat down in one of his chairs. "Aro, if Isabella is bound and determined to leave us she will, and there's nothing you or I can do to stop her, you know this," I told him.

Aro picked up a statue that sat on his desk and threw it across the room, burying it into the wall. "Find a way, Caius. I demand it," he commanded.

I ignored his command and sighed yet again. "Brother, think about it, she is stuck in a castle having to see the one she loves with another, how would you feel if it was Sulpicia? Would you want her to hurt if she wasn't already your true mate?" I asked.

"Yes, as long as she stayed within these walls, then yes. She would heal and find love again, plus, I would still spend time with her on the sly as you should do. Tell her you still want to be part of her life, spend quality time with her," he said.

I growled at him, realizing who I was talking to, forgetting that this vampire didn't have a conscience, his selfish ass wouldn't care about hurting someone he loved much less care about Isabella's feelings.

"To start off with, dear brother, I wouldn't do that to Isabella, much less to my true mate, and as long as she has to be in this castle and see me with Athena she will never love again. It may be best if she does go - at least she can start her life over again. She's always wanted to see the world, maybe now is her chance."

"NO! She will not leave. She is too powerful to leave this castle. She is capable of taking us down, Caius. She can destroy us. Have you ever thought of that? You have hurt her, brother. What if she wants to take revenge against you by taking down the Volturi to do it?" Aro growled.

I laughed at the thought. "Oh, Aro, Isabella is not vengeful, and the last thing she would want is to rule the vampire world. You are letting your imagination run away with you again," I told him.

"Caius you will stop her from leaving or I will find a way to destroy her. I cannot, or will not let someone as powerful as she run amok in our world," I said.

I growled once again. "You will not harm her! It's not as though you could, even if you tried. She would end you before you even took a nonexisting breath, and it won't be to rule the vampire world it would only be to defend herself and it would leave Marcus and me to rule. I told you before she is not interested in ruling our world. But I will have a talk with her and see where her mind is in this circumstance, but I'm warning you, Aro, if she wishes to leave it will be with my well wishes, and you will have to deal with it," I told him as I rose from my chair and exited his office. I heard him growl loudly as I walked down the hallway. I shook my head at his stupidity.

It was true that I would let her leave if she wished it, but I would make it hard for her to do so. I didn't want to hurt Isabella, but the thought of her not being within these walls upset me. I wanted her to move on, but the thought of her finding a new love bothered me immensely.

Could I stand to see her with another within this castle? I didn't know for sure, but the thought of her lying with another did bother me. Maybe she should leave, though I would miss her terribly, but I would survive especially with Athena by my side. I also knew that my love for Isabella would fade with time, but I wasn't so sure hers would, so yes, if she wished to leave I would let her go.

I walked up to her door and paused for a few seconds before knocking. I heard her bid me to enter and opened the door, looking around to find her standing next to the closet getting ready for her day. "Bella, may I have a few words with you?" I asked, in hopes that using the name I chose as an endearment would ease our conversation somewhat.

"Of course, Master Caius," she replied. I sighed, hating the way she greeted me.

"Bella, you don't have to call me that while we're alone, I explained.

"You are one of our leaders and we are no longer together. It would be disrespectful of me to not greet you as such," she said sharply. I grimaced at how she said this.

"Bella," I said softly as I pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and kissed her temple. "I still love you, you know that," I whispered into her ear softly as I rubbed her back. She sighed and moved away from me and crossed the room and sat at her dressing table and began to brush her hair.

Not to be defeated, I walked over and pushed her hair from her shoulders and began kissing her shoulder. I could feel the effect I had on her. She then said my name and instead of what I thought was a moan of my name she shrugged her shoulders, stopping me from showing her affection, and after seeing the look in her eyes I knew she was upset with me for trying to seduce her. This made me a little angry.

"Aro sent you, did he not?" She asked as I stood up behind her looking at her through the mirror. She had always been smart, easily figuring out things before anyone said a word, and this was no different, but I tried to hide the fact that Aro had indeed sent me.

"What makes you think that?" I asked guiltily.

"Because of the talk I had with Aro a few days ago. I knew he'd come up with something to try and stop me from leaving," she said, causing my heart to drop.

"So you are leaving?" I asked sadly. "Is it because of me, because I've found my true mate?" I asked. She shrugged her shoulders but I knew that was the reason. "Love, you know I have no control over such things," I told her. She slammed her brush down and stood up to face me.

"Look, Caius, I understand you had no control over what happened, and although it hurts and probably will for a very long time I'm still happy that you found your soulmate. I only want what is best for you, and Athenodora seems to make you happy, but I don't wish to stay here and watch as the man I love happy with someone else. I also don't appreciate you brother sending you here to convince me to stay. I didn't tell him I was leaving, only that I was thinking about it, but...She said, stopping in mid-rant.

I knew she hated this and I wished I could take all the pain she felt away from her, but I couldn't so I would do whatever she wanted, whatever she needed to make this better for her. I walked up to her and place my finger under her chin and made her look at me as I finished her sentence for her. "But you can't stand to see me with another woman when you still have feelings for me," I said sadly. She nodded her head in answer.

"How would you feel if you saw me with another male?" She asked. I already knew the answer to this, but I paused and then answered.

"I wouldn't like it," I said, plain and simple.

"And I wouldn't blame you. Aro thinks I should find someone else to warm my bed…someone from this coven. I just can't do that to you or to me. I wouldn't feel comfortable, Caius," she said with a shaky voice and I knew if she could cry she would have tears streaming down her cheeks. In knowing this I nodded and pulled her to his chest trying to comfort her the best I could. After a few minutes I pulled away slightly and looked into those sad eyes and spoke.

"I understand my love, if you must go then go. Leave Aro to me. Just leave a contact number with us in case something happens and we need your help. Can you do that for me?" I asked and she nodded her head sadly. "When will you leave?" I asked.

"By the end of the week I guess," she told me. I nodded and leaned down and placed my lips on hers, kissing her passionately to say a final goodbye. When I released her from the kiss I told her that I would miss her. After saying this I heard a deep rumble of a sob come from her chest. I hugged her once again and whispered into her ear. "I'm so sorry Isabella," and I meant every word. If I thought for a minute that my true mate would have arrived any time as soon as she did I would have never started a relationship with Isabella. I hated seeing her so sad, but I released her from the Volturi and hoped that she could find happiness out within the world.

Aro was furious when he found out I let her leave. He swore he'd find a way to bring her back. I shook my head and I told him, " _to just leave her be, Aro, just leave her be,"_ I said as Aro walked away and slammed the door to his office. I knew this wouldn't be the end of it, but I will fight in Isabella's corner if need be, and I'm sure there will come a time when I will be needed.

 **A/N:** I had to give you Caius's point of view of what happened, before we moved on to Bella's adventure before she meet up with Carlisle again...Let me know what you think...thanks for reading, huggs.


	12. Chapter 12

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 12**

 **Isabella's P.O.V.**

I've traveled a lot this last few years, meeting new vampires and their coven mates, and if I wasn't visiting covens I would just travel around to see different places and the sights they held. For the first few months of my travels I knew I was being followed, and I thought a couple of times I saw Demetri, but I couldn't be sure. It was probably Aro's way of showing me that he was watching me, but I didn't care. Aro was no threat to me so let him keep tabs on me.

It took a while, but I think I was finally getting over Caius. It still hurt when his name was mentioned, but not as badly as it did in the beginning, and of course when someone figured out who I was they immediately asked what happened, and why I left the Volturi. But there were those who knew already, especially if they heard that Caius had taken a new mate.

I've traveled extensively throughout Europe and was welcomed by a few of the covens. I met the French coven which only housed two members, Henri and Noela. They were very friendly and offered me a place in their coven, but I told them I wanted to see the world. I thanked them for their kind offer and stayed with them for a few weeks, enjoying their company, but then I decided it was time to move on.

I also met the Amazon Coven, a group of three women. Zafrina, who was gifted, has the ability to create vivid visual illusions, which I found very intriguing. There was also Senna and Kachiri, and I enjoyed being with them very much. That is where I stayed the longest in my travels. I really liked Zafrina, and I think I found a kindred spirit with her. It was shaky at first, for she really hated the Volturi. Since she knew that I was a part of that coven, or used to be, she was leery of me at first, but when she realized what had happened to me concerning Caius, she softened towards me and we spent many days conversing on the subject of men and their evil ways. I never laughed so hard being in another's presence, and I was sad when I left but promised to visit again soon.

The next coven I came across was the Egyptian coven. There were four of them. I found Amun to be a little strange. I also learned that he was the one who turned Demetri and later lost him to the Volturi with Chelsea's help. That is one of the reasons he didn't trust anyone, especially those who had anything to do with the Volturi, and pretty much kept his distance from me. But his mate Kebi was a sweetheart and we got on really well. Then there was Benjamin and his mate Tia. Benjamin had the gift of elemental control. He could manipulate and control the four elements: fire, water, air and earth … it was amazing to watch, and he was a very easy vampire to get to know as was Tia, and I enjoyed their company very much.

I stayed there for a while, not as long as with the Amazon coven, but longer than I had any of the others, at Benjamin and Tia's request. Amun didn't like it too much; he's a very skittish man to be a vampire. So I mainly spent my time with Benjamin and Tia and sometimes with Kebi. I was also sad to leave them behind, but I had a mission to fulfill: to see all of the world I could, and I was bound to do it. I said my goodbyes once again to yet another coven with the promise to see them again and was on my way.

I was off again, this time to Ireland. I think I remember my human father saying that we had family that lived there, but of course that was many, many years ago and they were probably no more than memory by now. It was already approaching the end of the eighteen hundreds and I was amazed at how fast time flew while being a vampire.

While I was in Ireland I came across yet another coven, the Irish coven who housed three members this time. Liam, the leader, and his mate Siobhan, and their coven mate Maggie. Liam did not have a gift, but Siobhan and Maggie did. Siobhan's gift was that she could visualize the outcome of an event, and Maggie's was that she could tell if someone told an untruth. They were good vampires and I enjoyed their company very much. I spent a few weeks with them and they too were a little squeamish that I been involved with the Volturi at first, but settled down when they found out that I was no longer affiliated with them and was therefore no threat to them.

I was beginning to see a pattern here. There weren't too many vampire covens that did not like the Volturi, and I'm sure it was due to Aro's constant manipulation. I had thought his ire was only toward his own coven. I guess I was wrong. He spread his ire across the world as well, I thought as I shook my head.

I left the Irish coven and continued my trek across the world. My last stop was in England, the place where I grew up. I was hunting in the woods, the same woods where Carlisle and I were attacked and turned when yet another male vampire found me.

"Who are you and why are you feeding in my territory?" he asked nastily.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize this was anyone's territory." I hadn't smelled any markings to prove this area belonged to anyone. I knew he was lying, not because I could sense him lying due to being around Maggie and picking up her gift, but because I was hunting animals and wasn't anywhere near any humans, which I knew from his eye color were his prey of choice.

He looked at me for a few minutes with a scowl. "Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Isabella Swan, and you are?" I asked in return.

He didn't answer for a few second and then replied. "Alistair, my name is Alistair. Why does your name sound familiar to me?"

I shrugged my shoulders before answering. "I used to be with the Italian coven if that helps."

He hissed at me and dropped down into a fighting stance.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Not only can I defend myself, but as I said I used to be a member of the Volturi, though I am not any longer," I told him.

He slowly rose from his stance and looked at me still scowling, and then replied. "I remember who you are now. You are Caius's mate. Why are you here and not with him?" he asked.

I sighed, not wanting to get into this once again, but it was my decision to see the world. I expected I would be asked this question many times, and have been during my travels. "Caius has found his true mate, which I am not. I left so as to not look upon the two of them at every turn. I am no longer with the Volturi, as I said before," I told him.

He nodded, and looked around the area. "Why are you out here hunting these filthy beasts when I see you are a human feeder?" he asked. I went into my explanation of how I met Carlisle and my reasons for hunting both beasts and humans which he seemed to understand.

He also told me that he knew Carlisle and was friends with him, although he hadn't seen him in some time. He also told me he was a physician now, since I told him how long it had been since I last saw him.

He led me to a pond where we sat and talked for some time. He told me he was a loner and didn't like the company of anyone else. He liked his peace and quiet, and in the time we spent together he never once apologized for the way we met. I could sense he was a hard man and trusted very little. I told him I grew up here or in the town not far off. That surprised him, for as he said I had no English accent. I then explained my time in the America's and what led my human family and myself to come here to live. He said he remembered the witch hunts that started here before drifting across the pond, that he had heard stories of what occurred in America. I told him I was headed there next, that I had come here to visit my human mother's grave before leaving.

I also learned that he too had a gift. He was gifted with the unique ability that allowed him to track animate beings at a greater distance than most vampires could. I was always told that Demetri's gift was the best there is, but if what Alistair said was true, then it sounded as if his gift was just as good as Demetri's, if not equal to his. And it was for sure he too hated the Volturi like many of the others I've come in contact with. That made me pause for a second and wonder just what Aro had been up to these last hundreds of years.

Before I left him, he told me if I came across Carlisle to give him his best. I said I would. He said he hoped to meet me again some day, which caused me to smile. He returned my smile, and I assumed that he didn't do that often. He ran off as I made my way to where I had buried my mother and laid on her grave a few wild flowers I picked along the way. Seeing this place again brought back the guilt I had back then. I apologized to my mother and ran to find passage that would take me back to my homeland that I haven't seen in many, many years.

Once back in America, which took longer than I thought possible, we landed in the city known as New York. I didn't really find too many vampires here. I don't know if that was because they were hidden well, or they just didn't exist in this city, but it was a large city which might explain most of it. I did notice that America had changed somewhat, There were more people milling around the streets, but as I said before it was a big city. I also noticed it had more technology than I remembered, such as a telephone that I learned of when I rented a room for the night after hunting a meal. I was starved from being on the ship for such a long period of time, and it took everything I had not to feed off of one of the passengers on board.

The hostess at the boarding house made it known that the telephone that sat on a wall in the hallway across from all of the rooms was for her residents who rented rooms for a longer stay, but I was more than welcome to phone anyone I wished to. She showed me how to use it and told me once connected to tell the operator what number I requested and she would put me through. Of course I didn't have anyone's number because I didn't know anyone here any longer, but I didn't tell her that.

They also had running water, which surprised me, and after experimenting with the knobs I figured out how to use it. It felt amazing sitting in a tub and soaking in the steaming hot water. It almost made me feel human again.

Once I finished my bath I dried off and dressed in the clothing I purchased in a shop before renting the room and relaxed for the night. In the morning I left this city and headed for the wooded area, at human speed while in the city, but upon entering the woods I took off at vampire speed.

After a while I stopped to feed in a place called Virginia. After finding a criminal who was torturing a young girl, I set her free. Once she had disappeared I fed from the barbaric creature, disposed of his body, and sped off again, not stopping until I was halted by a nomadic coven who were traveling across the country as well. I could feel they weren't the friendly type and kept my guard up.

"Well, who do we have here?" the male with the dirty blonde hair that was tied in the back asked excitedly, as he walked around me giving me the once over. He stopped in front of me, still ogling me from head to toe, as the other two stood back behind him. The woman had the reddest hair I have ever seen. She stood picking at her fingernails as the other male stood back and grinned at who I assumed was their leader.

"My name is Isabella Swan, and who might you be?" I asked, showing him I was not amused by his actions.

"He laughed and turned to look at his coven mates before his eyes landed on the other male vampire who was dark skinned and whose hair looked like it hadn't been combed in ages. "What do you say Laurent, want to have some fun with me?" he asked.

It was then I knew what he meant to do. I sighed, not wanting to fight with this coven, but it looked as though I might not have any choice. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," I told him as he looked back at me and smiled.

"Oh yeah, and why is that? he asked, amused.

"Because you would die before you drew your next unneeded breath," I told him. He smiled and ran his hand up my arm.

The female vampire called out. "James, leave the girl alone," she said and I could sense that she had a feeling that I could cause them harm. It was then that James grabbed both of my arms, trying to push me to the ground. I flung out my shield and threw him across the field where he crashed into one of the trees and I held him there. The other male vampire backed off when he realized that I had a gift, as did the female.

"Look, we don't want any trouble, so please carry on with your travels, we won't try anything again," the other male vampire begged.

"Didn't look that way to me, and you're damn right you won't cause me any more trouble, because I could kill you all with only a flick of my wrist," I told him.

He gulped before continuing to beg for their lives. "We meant you no harm, really, Victoria and I would have stopped him before he did anything stupid," he said. That caused me to chuckle.

"And what if you cross another person or vampire, huh? Will you have a little fun with them as well? Maybe I should just end you all right here and now to make sure that doesn't happen," I told him honestly.

"Please, we won't harm anyone else, we're just simple nomads who are traveling around the country," he begged.

I harrumph and nodded my head. "See that you don't, for I will know and will come back and finish what I started," I said. He nodded, and saying that I took off once again.

The next city I came to was New Orleans. There were many people walking up and down the street. I also found that this city had a lot of supernatural beings living here. I didn't get to meet any of them, but I did get the chance to watch them collaborating among themselves. A few noticed me but pretty much kept to themselves. I watched them from a room with a balcony that I had rented for the night needing to clean up from my bout with that menacing coven.

Some of them were wolves, or so I thought, but I couldn't be sure, for I had never seen one in their human form. I think that some of them were witches, but again I couldn't be sure. It was interesting to watch, and by morning the streets were cleared except for a few stragglers. It was time for me to carry on with my journey.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay there's another update done. Coming up next Bella comes in contact with Maria's coven and meets the god of war and his captain and lieutenant. See how she fares here. I think you'll enjoy it...Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading, bigg huggs.


	13. Chapter 13

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 13**

 **Meeting Maria and the Whitlocks**

After leaving New Orleans I followed the coastline around, and I found myself in the most southern part of the states between Mexico and Texas. I also could smell that someone had marked this as their territory. Aware of the unspoken law of letting others know when you are crossing into their territory, I thought I'd better assure them I wasn't here to cause any trouble. I wasn't afraid of being hurt for I knew I had enough power to overcome another vampire, but it was only common courtesy to let them know of my presence.

As I followed the scent of vampire I noticed that there wasn't just one, or even three or four, but an enormous number of vampires in the area. I realized that I was in the area that Caius had told me about awhile back that had to do with the Southern Wars. Still I wanted to follow protocol and at least let them know I was passing through. Besides, I had heard of this God of War that was supposed to be living around here, and I wondered if this was the compound where he indeed presided.

I remembered Caius saying that Maria's camp bordered Mexico and Texas, and that is exactly where I was. I also remembered him telling me if I ever was that close to that compound to be careful, for she was one hell of an evil hellcat and would rather kill someone than deal with them, but then again that was before I picked up so many gifts.

I slowed down and approached with caution, noticing a guard posted at the entrance of the compound. When he saw me he crouched into a fighting stance and growled out a warning. I stopped and asked him whose camp this was, but before he could answer another male voice spoke. I turned to this vampire who seemed to be more subdued in his actions than the other one, and caused me to relaxed somewhat.

"You shouldn't be here, and if I were you I'd head off and run as fast as you can before Maria finds out you've been here." He said.

So this was Maria's compound and the home of the God of War I had heard so much about. This intrigued me thoroughly, and he was someone I would love to meet.

"I assure you I am not afraid of Maria," I told him as he smirked, followed by a chuckle.

"Either you're just plain stupid or you're Volturi; either way you'll be just as dead if she finds you here," he said.

I just stood there, looking unafraid at this handsome vampire with dark blonde hair. I could tell he was a fighter due to the many bite scars that were visible on his extremely attractive body. I'm sure any other vampire, male or female, would be running for their lives at the sight of him, but he didn't bother me in the least.

He shook his head while looking me over before speaking again.

"You're Volturi aren't you?" he asked. I smiled and shook my head.

"Not anymore. I was for many years, but I left and have been traveling, seeing the world. I was passing by and thought I'd let Maria know that I was passing through, less chaos that way," I told him.

He laughed at that and continued. "Like I said, you'd still be just as dead…wait a minute, you said you left the Volturi? I've never heard of anyone that just up and left the Volturi. If you did then…you're her, aren't you? The one who left, who has all the gifts," he said with a laugh. "You really don't want to be here if you're her. Maria would love to get her hands on you, so if I were you I'd run…run as fast as you can, lady, before she finds out you're here. It was then we heard another voice, a female voice this time.

"It's too late Captain, I've already heard," Maria said as she turned to me and continued. "Come in, Isabella, so we can have a little talk. Please follow me," she said whipping around and sauntering off in the direction of the cabins that sat on the other side of the camp.

I'd have to say she was as beautiful as I had heard. Her beautiful long dark thick hair lay in curls down her back to just above her slim waistline, and they bounced as she walked. She had pouty pink lips and a slim nose and even though her dark red eyes sparkled when she talked you could still see the evil seductress behind them. She wore a blouse that was pulled down to show her shoulders and rested on her upper arms and a long colorful skirt with a black belt that tied at the waist. The skirt fell down her shapely hips and hid most of the black boots she wore on her tiny feet.

As we walked I saw many newborns snapping and nipping at each other, but I think they still knew not to approach me, probably due to being so close to Maria. There was one male vampire, however, who stopped in mid stride and watched as I walked by him. He had blonde windblown hair and he stood as if he was someone of importance, his shoulders thrown back as if daring someone to approach him.

He wore the same bite marks on his shirtless body as I saw on the vampire that I first spoke with, the one Maria called Captain, who was now following behind us To be honest, he may have had even more marks and I wondered if he was the one the other vampires called the God of War. He was very handsome with muscles that rippled with every move of his body. Intrigued, I gave him a slight bow of my head and a half smile as I passed him. The one called Captain left us and joined him as I followed Maria into her cabin.

"Please have a seat," she said, sounding more like an order than an offer after entering, pointing to a chair facing her desk as she sat and rested her elbows on her desk and rested her chin on her knuckles. She gave me an evil smirk before she began to speak. "So what brings you to my territory, Isabella?"

"I was just passing through and thought it only courteous to let you know I was crossing your territory. Isn't it protocol to let land owners know when you're on their land?"

"Well, I find it unusual is all. Most vampires just run through without stopping to tell me anything, especially once they find out whose territory they are traveling across."

"Well, I'm not just any vampire, Maria. I'd want someone to tell me if it was my land."

"Yes, I think you would," she said, sitting there staring at me. "What brings you to my neck of the woods, so to speak?" she said when she finally spoke.

"I've been traveling a lot. I just left New Orleans and was following the coastline and found myself here. I thought I'd head north and see what I could see…you know, just sightseeing." She nodded her head and sighed before speaking again.

"Did Aro send you here to spy on me, Isabella?" She asked nonchalantly. I chuckled at her question, knowing it sounded like something Aro would do.

"No, I don't work for Aro any longer - not that I actually did. I worked mostly for Caius."

"Ah yes, Caius. I understand he's your mate, is he not?"

"We were companions for a time, that is until he met his true mate. I thought it was my time to set my sights elsewhere so I left and have been traveling ever since."

"Are you sure about that? Because if I thought for one minute that you were here spying for the Volturi I'd rip you limb from limb," she said evilly. I gave her a smirk.

"You could try," I said with a chuckle.

"Yes, I've heard of your gifts, Isabella, but I don't fear you. My Major could put you on your knees in a second with little effort at all," she said very confidently. "As a matter of fact, I'd like to see your gift in action."

"Follow me, Isabella," she commanded, getting to her feet and walking out of her cabin, expecting me to follow. I knew what she was going to do as I also knew it wouldn't work, and if she thought for one second she was going to keep me here she had another thing coming. I followed her out to the middle of the compound where she stopped and called for the Major to join us.

"Yes, Mistress," he said standing at attention by her side.

"I'd like for you to put Isabella on her knees, Major, in any way you see fit," she commanded. I looked over at the Major and stared at him as I put up my shield, not getting into a fighting stance, and waited. I also knew I picked up his gift as I felt his emotions. They hit my shield, anger at first and then lethargy, but they just bounced off. This seemed to anger him even more as he dove for me, and he too bounced off my shield and landed on his arse. Maria laughed and clapped her hands.

"That's enough, Major," she told him and stroked his arm trying to comfort him, but I felt the disgust he felt from her touch, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him at that moment. I knew from just one look that this vampire shouldn't be here.

"Major this is Isabella Volturi, or I guess its Swan once again, is it not Isabella?" she asked. I nodded my answer. "So don't feel too bad that you couldn't get through her shield. She is, shall we say, very talented," she explained.

"Volturi?" the Major said questioningly with an arch on his brow and a look of hatred in his expression.

"Yes, but don't fear, Major, she is no longer with the Volturi and is traveling around seeing what she can of our world. Why don't you and the Captain take her to your cabin and get to know her a little better. We'll talk again later, Isabella," she said as she turned and yelled.

"Char!"

"Yes Mistress," said another beautiful girl, her long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. I also noticed that the good Captain kept an eye on this girl and I saw the bond they carried for one another. "See that the troops are settled in for the night and then join the Captain, the Major and Isabella. I'd like for you all to get to know her a little better."

"Yes, Mistress," she repeated with a bow of her head as she started rounding up the newborns for the night.

"Miss Swan, if you'd follow me," The Captain said walking away with the Major close behind. I followed and entered the Major's cabin and joined the two of them around his desk.

"I told you that you should have run, Miss Swan. Maria is trying to trap you here now," the Captain said.

"And I told you, Captain, that she hasn't a chance in hell of keeping me here against my will."

"I've heard of you," the Major said. I turned to him and smiled, nodding my head.

"I'm sure you have, Major. A lot of people tell me that, I'm afraid."

"You are one of Aro's elite guards," he continued.

"I used to be one of Caius's elite guards, but not any longer."

"And why is that?" he asked. I sighed, not wanting to get into this once again. Everywhere I go people ask me the same question.

"My companion found his true mate and…I…couldn't stay there any longer," I explained. He nodded his head in understanding.

"My apologies ma'am, but you know that Peter's right?"

"Who is Peter?" I asked confused.

"The Captain," he said pointing to the vampire next to him. I nodded, realizing that was his real name.

"And what is your real name, Major?"

"Jasper Whitlock at your service ma'am," he said in his southern drawl as he bowed his head slightly. It made me smile, loving his southern accent.

"It's an honor to meet you, Jasper," I told him with a smile.

"The honor is all mine ma'am," he proclaimed as he returned the smile.

"As I said, Jasper, she can't hold me here against my will. If I wish to leave I will do so."

"I like her, major, she's got real spunk," Peter replied.

"Well, don't like her too much Captain unless you wish to lose a piece of your anatomy," came a voice from behind me. I turned to see the girl Maria called Char. I was right to assume that she was the Captain's mate. I could see the bonded strands that linked them both together.

"Char, meet Isabella Swan, ex-Volturi," Peter introduced as he pulled her onto his lap. The girl's eyes became large when she heard I was an ex-elite guard.

"Please call me Bella, I hate being called Isabella," I told them.

"It's nice to meet you, Bella. You do know that Maria expects you to join us, right?" Char echoed the same sentiments that both vampires had uttered not long ago. I shook my head.

"Won't happen," I said again.

"Captain, take care. If Maria walks in here and sees Char sitting on your lap she will have her killed, you know the rules," Jasper told Peter.

"I know, Major, I'll be careful."

"What, you're not allowed to have mates here?"

"No, causes too many distractions, but who am I to say who should or shouldn't have mates. The Captain knows the rules and if they are caught she will kill them both," Jasper explained.

"But that's so cruel."

"This whole war is cruel, Bella," Char said sadly.

"There is another way of life if you wish to leave," I told her.

"What, you mean join the Volturi? I don't think so. I'd rather die here than with them," Peter said. I looked at them, confused.

"No, that's not what I meant. I meant you could live like the humans do, find a house somewhere away from the humans and just…live," I told them.

"And what, have some other overseer capture us just so we can fight with them?" Peter said. I couldn't believe that they didn't know this.

"No, Peter. The only overseers are here in the most southern south. It's not like this up in the Northern States, hell, even in the Northern part of Texas," I explained.

"There's not?" he asked.

"No! I'm not saying it would be easy, but it's a hell of a lot better than here," I told them. They looked at one another in disbelief, so I continued explaining.

"I met this other vampire while with the Volturi, we became friends and he lives on animal blood. He's never even tasted human blood…ever," I told them. I saw Jasper's eyes light up and I'm sure it had to do with all the pain he felt from the humans as he fed from them, being an empath.

"There's really someone out there who lives off animals, and he survives off them?" Peter asked. I nodded.

"Yes, even I drink animal blood from time to time, and I'm finally getting used to its taste, it's not that bad. Carlisle seems comfortable with it, and he's also a human physician now," I said. They looked at me in shock.

"He's a doctor, a human doctor?" Char asked as they stared at me in disbelief.

"Yes. I haven't seen him in a while, but one of his friends recently told me he is one now, and before he left the Volturi he told me he wanted to be one, so I see no reason to doubt his word," I told them. They all nodded as I looked over at Jasper, and I could see the wheels turning in his head as he stared into space.

The rest of the night went slowly as we talked and got to know one another, but come morning I decided it was time for me to leave. I got up and said my good-byes to my new friends, wishing them all well and left the cabin and headed for the entrance of the compound. I was stopped when I heard Maria's voice.

"Where do you think you're going, Isabella?" she asked.

"It's time I was going, Maria. It's been an…experience," I told her as I started to turn and leave.

"You aren't going anywhere mi amiga. Major, grab Isabella and put her in the hold with the newborns," she commanded. Jasper looked at her with a furrowed brow. "Now Major, unless you wish to be punished," she said hatefully. He turned back to me, not really knowing what to do. He knew of my gifts and knew there wasn't much he could do. So he walked up to me and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Bella, but we did warn you."

"And I warned you, Major." I said as I turned back to Maria. "I don't wish to stay here. There is nothing you or anyone else can do to keep me here…unless you wish to die," I told her. She laughed.

"There's not a force on this earth that can stop me from getting what I want, Isabella, and that includes you," she said with confidence.

"It's your funeral, Maria." She laughed again and ordered the Major to take me once again.

I put up my shield and Jasper couldn't even get close to me. I put my hand out palms up and called upon the fire, as two balls of flames rolled in my hands.

"Major, stop her!" she cried out, knowing she had made a grave mistake.

As she said this I threw both balls of fire at her and as they made contact they set her aflame and she was ash ten seconds later. Jasper, Peter and Char stood with their mouths hanging open as they watched their mistress turn to ash.

"I guess you are free to find that new life I told you about," I told them and spun around and, with great speed, ran for the entrance heading north to a new adventure.

Time passed as I spent time here and there meeting new people along the way, seeing new sights. I didn't know what happened to Peter and Char or even Jasper. I did think of them from time to time and hoped that someday I'd meet them again.

A/N: Next up, Bella meets the Denali's. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading...huggs.


	14. Chapter 14

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 14**

 **Still Isabella's P.O.V.**

I had been traveling a very long time. It was already in the mid nineteen hundreds and I was growing tired of traveling around the world, visiting others and see the sights over and over again. I started staying in different places for longer periods of time. I was becoming tired from all the traveling. I felt it was time to start settling down, I felt like a country without a home.

I was in the state of Alaska, in the a town called Denali and needed to hunt. I was still vacillating between humans and animals, but today I wanted to hunt animals. I was hunting more animals than humans these days, still trying to lose the habit of feeding on humans. My eye color was more gold than red now, but it was still noticeable that I had at some point hunted a human.

When I entered the forest I smelled the scent that told me this place was another vampire's territory. So I sought out the vampire by following its scent, which led me to a nice house that sat between the mountains and the forest. I cautiously approached the house when a male vampire followed by four females came out to greet me. As I regarded the vampires before me I looked once again at the male and was shocked.

"Eleazar, is that you?" I asked as I approached slowly not wanting to spook the females.

"Isabella, what are you doing all the way out here?" he asked with a smile on his face. He approached me and pulled me into a hug, holding me tightly to his chest. When he released me and stared into my eyes he gasped. "I don't believe it, you've been hunting animals," he said.

I nodded and explained what had happened and how I saw the little girl's face every time I fed. I told him I remembered, Carlisle's choice of feeding and decided to try it for myself, explaining that I was alternating back and forth between humans and animals, but was gaining more control and was feeding mostly from animals now. He was astonished at how I had taught myself this, and it was then that I saw that he too had golden eyes and had been feeding from animals.

"You too? Let me guess, Carlisle?" I asked with a chuckle. He nodded.

"Yes, we've kept in touch since I left the Volturi." It was true that Eleazar left the Volturi not long after he met his mate, Carmen. I had never met her but he told me a little about her before he left. Aro had let him leave with the promise that if he was needed he would return to help. _(Much as I had agreed, but I have not been called back, thank god, which I assume had something to do with Caius.)_ He agreed and left and I haven't seen him since, and by the look of things his coven had grown.

"Speaking of Carlisle, one of his coven members is visiting us for a few weeks," he said. I furrowed my eyebrows together, not realizing that Carlisle had started his own coven, but why wouldn't he? Why be alone when you can have others around? It was then that I wondered who all was in Carlisle's coven and if he had taken a mate. For some reason that bothered me, but I couldn't figure out why. That's also when another male vampire joined the females in front of the house.

"Come, I'll introduce you to my family," he said. He took my arm and led me to the others. When we stood in front of his family, Eleazar introduced them starting with his mate. "Isabella I'd like you to meet my mate, Carmen, and these are our daughters, Irina, Katrina and Tonya, and this is Carlisle's son and first companion Edward. Family, this is an old friend of mine, Isabella Swan. We were in the elite guard together while in the service of the Volturi."

We all looked at one another for a few minutes and I was beginning to think I wasn't welcome when Eleazar's mate, Carmen, stepped forward and gave me a hug.

"Isabella, it is so nice to finally meet you. Eli has spoken of you many times and I feel as if I've known you for ages. Welcome to our home," she said with a smile. The others welcomed me as well, though Edward only nodded in my direction.

After I was shown to a guest room I cleaned up a bit. I was standing at the top of the stairs ready to descend when I heard one of the girls speaking, but to whom I didn't know, which caused me to pause.

" _I don't know what to say to her after her breakup with Caius, I don't want to make her feel bad, but I'm dying to know what happened,"_ she said. I heard a shushing sound and I could tell they knew I was there. I continued down the stairs and smiled.

"It's fine if you wish to ask me about Caius. It's been a long time since our breakup and it doesn't bother me any longer," I told them as I took a seat and waited for them to bombard me with their questions. After answering all I could I told them I needed to hunt. That was the reason I was at their front door - to ask permission, not knowing whose house this was.

"I'll go with you, as long as you're hunting animals," Edward said flippantly as he stood up.

"Edward, there's no need for that tone of voice. She is no different from the rest of us; she's just trying to change her diet," Eleazar said.

"Yeah, and it's only taken her over a hundred years to learn our diet," he said sarcastically.

"That's enough, Edward. You had Carlisle to help you through learning your feeding habits; she's doing this on her own. Have you forgotten how hard it was for you to go back to feeding on animals after your rebellion period? And even then you had Carlisle's help," he said.

"But over a hundred years, Eleazar," Edward said snidely.

"Edward!" Eleazar began, but I cut him off.

"It's alright, Eleazar," I said, and turned to Edward. "I will admit that I wasn't trying very hard to learn this way of life, but when I heard of Carlisle's way of life many years ago while we were with the Volturi I thought it disgusting to tell you the truth. I wasn't the only one who thought that; all the members of the Italian coven thought it disgusting, but when I was ordered to feed with the brothers one day something happened. You see, I only fed from criminals at the time because that's the way I survived from the very beginning of my vampire life. I did not know any other way," I said, hating to remember what I was about to reveal.

"On that day in the throne room I fed from a young woman,hating it, but I was ordered to do so. When I finished feeding I looked down and found a young child crying, scared half to death. The woman I killed was the child's mother, and every time I fed thereafter I was haunted by that little girl's face. It took me a while to remember Carlisle's way of feeding, but when it finally dawned on me I began experimenting with his diet, alternating back and forth between humans and animals. I had to be discreet you see, being Caius's mate. No one would understand why one of the King's mates had golden eyes from feeding from animals, so I did this to keep my eyes red. I did this from that day forward, and after I left the Volturi I have been weaning myself off humans. I admit, regrettably, I've not tried my hardest, but I am winning the battle and I will keep doing so until I have won. I don't need some condescending adolescent teenage vampire to point out my faults, because I'm sure you have your own," I told him as I walked away and headed for the forest to hunt, leaving Edward where he stood.

I spent a few weeks with the Denali coven enjoying our conversations and reliving memories of my time with my friend, Eleazar. I even enjoyed my conversations with Tonya, Irina, Kate and Carmen, although Tonya was a bit standoffish, which I was sure was due to the way I talked and ignored Edward. She seemed to have a crush on the boy.

I also found out that Kate had a gift; she could physically shock you with electricity with one touch and had the ability to control the amount she sent you. She was surprised when she tried it on me, thinking I was only a shield and wanted to see if it worked on me. I guess Eleazar hadn't explained my gifts in detail to his coven. Of course I knew what Eleazar's gift was. I knew he could tell a vampire's gift when he looked into their eyes, for that's how the Volturi and I had originally learned of my gifts.

Time was getting close for my departure from the Denali coven and Eleazar told me that I should visit Carlisle and his coven. He said that Carlisle often spoke of me and had missed our conversations. After saying this, Edward spoke up.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said.

"Eleazar furrowed his brow. "Why is that, Edward?" he asked.

"I j...just don't think it's a very good idea, I mean she still feeds from humans and we don't allow anyone around us who does such a thing," he replied reluctantly.

"Don't be ridiculous, Edward. Carlisle has many friends who still drink from humans."

"I will not allow it, Eleazar!" Edward yelled.

"Well, we'll just see about that, Edward won't we?" He said as he walked over to his phone, picked up the receiver and dialed. Seeing this, Edward stormed from the room, like the adolescent child I knew he could be, followed by Tonya as Eleazar spoke on the phone.

" _Hello, Carlisle Cullen here. How may I help you,"_ I heard from the other end of the phone.

"He must be at work," Eleazar said as he covered to receiver to speak to me and then returned to his call.

"Carlisle, you will never guess who is visiting with us at this very moment."

" _Eleazar, it's good to hear your voice. Who is visiting your home? It must be someone of importance for you to be phoning me,"_ Carlisle said with a chuckle.

"Indeed it is. Isabella Swan has been here these past few weeks."

" _Isabella, is there...with you...now? he asked,_ sounding a little shocked.

"She was traveling and has been for some time. She actually stumbled upon us, wanting to ask permission to hunt in our territory, and she was surprised to find it was I who lived here."

" _Really? Wait, you mean to tell me she is feeding from animals?" He asked._

"Yes, well she is trying. She fluctuates back and forth, but she is doing rather well in her endeavors."

" _That is fantastic news, Eleazar. I'm happy to hear it."_

"I told her she should pay you a visit as well, but Edward says she wouldn't be welcome."

" _What...why would he say something like that?"_ he asked in a shocked voice.

"I have no idea, Carlisle. Here, I will let you speak with her...hold on for a second," he said, handing me the receiver.

"H...hello," I said a little shaky at speaking to the vampire I hadn't seen in ages, and for the fact I had never used a telephone.

" _Isabella, my goodness. It is so good to hear your voice,"_ he said softly.

"It's good to hear yours as well, Carlisle," I said lovingly.

" _Now, what's this I hear, that Edward said you wouldn't be welcomed in my home?"_ he asked.

"I don't think your companion likes me very much, Carlisle. We had some words when I first arrived and we haven't really spoken to each other since. He thinks that I should have already converted to your diet, and hates that I still have some red in my eyes, I guess," I told him.

" _That's nonsense, I don't know what has gotten into him, but I am so glad that you are trying to convert to our diet, Isabella, and I hope you take Eleazar's advice and come see me before you return to Italy,"_ he said. My god. He thinks I'm still with Caius and part of the Volturi!

"Carlisle, I am no longer with the Italian coven, I left there many, many years ago," I told him...the line went quiet for a few minutes and after a while, I spoke. "Carlisle, are you still there?"

" _Oh, yes, forgive me. You shocked me there for a minute. I...I mean, wait...does that mean you're no longer with Caius?_ " he asked.

"No, Carlisle I am not. I haven't been with him or the Volturi in a very long time. When we first spoke I told you I wanted to travel to see the world and that's what I have been doing, see the sights and meeting a lot of vampires. Oh, by the way, Alistair wishes me to tell you hello and he sends his best wishes," I told him.

" _Wow, you have been getting around, and thank you for delivering his message,"_ he said with a chuckle.

"You're welcome."

" _Isabella, I would love to keep up with this conversation, but I am at work..."_ he said apologetically as I interrupted.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Carlisle, I will let you get back to your work," I said until he too cut me off.

" _No, Isabella, I mean yes, I need to get back to work, but promise me you will come for a visit. I've missed our conversations and long to see you again, will you come?"_ he asked.

"I don't know, Carlisle, I don't wish to cause any problems with your coven," I told him.

" _That's nonsense, Isabella, please ignore my son, and come for a visit...please?"_ he asked.

I sighed and told him I would, at hearing this he sounded pleased.

Before we hung up he said Eleazar would give me directions to his home and the phone number to his house. He told me to tell Eleazar to call him when I left so he'd know to be home when I arrived. I agreed and hung up the phone. Of course I didn't have to tell Eleazar, for he heard the whole conversation and agreed the moment Carlisle asked.

I stayed a few more days with Eleazar and his coven, and then left with their best wishes and hopes for my return for another visit. Eleazar said he would phone Carlisle and let him know I was on my way.

Edward decided to stay with them, not wanting to be around during my visit with his sire, which I was glad of. The last thing I wanted was to argue with him my entire visit. And for some reason I was nervous to see Carlisle again. I guess I was nervous for the fact that I knew there would be others besides Edward in his coven and didn't know how they would act. Would they be just as condescending as Edward had been? I didn't know. I just hoped all would be okay.

I ran through the woods at vampire speed, but there were many times that I had to walk through cities or towns at a human pace. I couldn't believe how much the terrain had changed through the years. I guess I could have taken a bus, but I loved feeling the wind blowing through my hair when I ran at vampire speed. It took me a little while to get where I was going but it would have been slower if I had taken a bus.

When I arrived in Oregon I followed Eleazar's instructions and found the house where Carlisle supposedly lived. I stayed some distance away from the house until I was sure this was the right place. Although I could smell Carlisle's scent. I still wanted to make sure. Once Carlisle stepped out on his porch I ran up to him and stopped. We stared at one another for a few minutes with smiles on our faces until he approached me and pulled me into a tight hug and whispered.

"Isabella, oh Isabella, how I've missed you so."

 **A/N:** I know this update is a little short, but there will be more fun starting in the next few chapters. We're getting close to the end, only five more chapters to go. Coming up next Bella meets Carlisle's family and we'll see how they take to her, good or bad...humm...We'll have to see. Thanks for reading, huggs.


	15. Chapter 15

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 15**

 _Once Carlisle stepped out on his porch I ran up to him and stopped. We stared at one another for a few minutes with smiles on our faces until he approached me and pulled me into a tight hug and whispered._

" _Isabella, oh Isabella, how I've missed you so."_

I gasped, and I knew what Carlisle was to me at that moment. I don't know why I hadn't seen it before. I mean, yes, we had spent a lot time together before he left and I knew we enjoyed our time together as well as our conversations. I even felt a closeness to him, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out why I hadn't seen it before.

Maybe it had something to do with my relationship with Caius. Could being with someone else block these feelings? No, I didn't think so; if that was true, Caius wouldn't have found his true mate. So how was it possible to not see my true mate when he was right in front of me? I didn't know what had happened, but I felt it now, and god it felt wonderful. Now I could see how Caius blocked me out so quickly.

My only foreseeable problem now was if Carlisle had a mate. And if he did, how would we handle that? I would not hurt another the way I was hurt, that much was certain, but I was jumping the gun. First things first.

Carlisle pulled away from me slightly as we continued to gaze into one another's eyes lovingly. My eyes inadvertently looked to his lips, wanting and hoping he'd move closer, letting our lips meet. It was then we heard a female's voice call to him. The voice was coming from behind us, and broke our connection.

Carlisle looked over his shoulder at the female and replied. "Yes, of course," he said. "Come meet my family, Isabella," he whispered. Taking my hand and placing it in the bend of his arm and led me to the porch where two males and three females stood.

"Family, this is Isabella Swan, the one I've spoke, to you about. Isabella, this is my family. Rosalie and her mate Emmett, my wife, Esme, and finally Alice and her mate Jasper. I was so caught up with hearing him say his wife I never even heard him name the last two. His wife? He did have a wife.

Oh, Carlisle, Carlisle, what is to be done now? I had known it was possible, but to hear that he had a wife who had to be his chosen mate floored me. I swallowed hard, trying to push my disappointment to the back of my mind, when I heard another familiar voice. "Bella, are you all right?" I looked over and my eyebrows shot into my hairline.

"Jasper?" I said, shocked at seeing him again...here. Oh my god, Jasper," I said and threw myself into his arms. It had been ages since I had seen him and I didn't think before doing this. I heard a growl come from beside him, and I pulled away still smiling at him.

"Would you mind letting my husband go?" the little elf-like woman said heatedly.

"Forgive me, it's just that it's been so long since I've seen him and I've always wondered what happened to him, his brother, Peter and sister Char," I said, when the elfen vampire spoke again.

"Jasper has no family besides us, and do you always make a habit of hugging other women's mates?" She asked again heatedly.

I glared down at the vampire. "Yes, if I know them and wish to show them how much they were missed." I said just as heatedly.

"Alice," Jasper said in a warning tone. Jasper knew of my gifts and I was sure he worried about the wellbeing of his mate. I felt pity for Jasper at that moment. This female vampire was just like her sibling I left behind me in Denali. I just hoped the rest weren't like this. God, I already wished I hadn't come.

If I hadn't come I never would have realized that Carlisle was my true mate. I still didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, and I wouldn't have to put myself through this. I could feel the jealousy coming from these vampires in waves.

I would have expected this from Carlisle's wife, but not from a girl who was trying to say that Jasper was her mate, which he was not. I saw the friendship bond between them, and found Jasper's strand a little stronger than the female's, but as much as Jasper was paying attention to this female there had to be more to it. I wondered if she had lied to him about being mates. I also wondered when he met her, for if he met her right after he left Maria's camp he would have been vulnerable, not knowing how the vampire world worked without war. He wanted to learn Carlisle's ways and if Alice told him that she too was searching for Carlisle he would probably believe anything she said to him. Something I was sure to find out soon, and when I'm certain Jasper will know as well.

Then came another voice from the one Carlisle called his wife. There was a bond of love there, but only coming from her. Carlisle's bond to her was more of a family bond like a sister or a sire bond.

"Welcome to our home, Isabella. Carlisle has spoken of you often, and I for one would love to get to know you a little better. Come, let me show you to your room," she said. I looked over at the woman with the caramel colored hair and the sweet temperment and I sighed, knowing how much it would hurt her to find out what Carlisle and I were to one another and deciding to keep it to myself for now.

I knew she didn't want me here, but at least she was trying, probably for Carlisle's sake. When she said she _for one_ wanted to get to know me a little better, I knew then that the others thought differently. _Great, just great,_ I thought as I followed her to the guest room.

Upon entering their home, I noticed how homey it looked. The floor plan was open and you could see the entire first floor from the foyer. "You have a beautiful home, Mrs. Cullen," I told her. She smiled.

"Thank you, dear, and please call me Esme," She said as we walked up the stairs and entered the large guest room. "I hope you find this to your liking for your stay with us. There is an en suite just there," she said and pointed to one of two doors on the other side of the room, and then continued, "and the door next to it is a closet to store your clothing. If you need anything else, please ask. I'll leave you to get settled in. When you're ready please join us in the living area," she said as she left, closing the door softly behind her.

I sat on the bed wondering why I had let Carlisle talk me into coming here. I felt so out of place. It wasn't so much feeling nervous as it was more like feeling unwelcome. Oh I know Carlisle, and possibly Jasper wanted me here, but not so much the others, especially Jasper's mate. I could feel the hate rolling off her in waves. It was like Carlisle didn't even recognize how the others felt, how much they didn't want me here. I really didn't think he cared what they thought, but didn't he realize that this would hamper my visit with him?

It occurred to me that maybe I should just leave. I decided to broach the subject to him when we were alone, if the others would even allow it. I had a feeling that Jasper and his so-called mate knew what Carlisle was to me and would probably never leave me alone with him - well, not so much Jasper as Alice.

At that moment my eyes went blank and I saw just how much trouble this elf-like vampire was going to cause me. As I came out of the vision I realized that someone living in this house had the gift of seeing the future, but I had a feeling that it was more about how a decision was made - and if someone changed their mind the vision would change as well.

I took out a few things from my bag, because I didn't know when I would be alone with Carlisle to tell him I had to leave. I didn't even know for sure if I could leave Carlisle's side after learning he's my true mate.

While I was going through my bag a knock came at my door. I walked across the room and opened the door to find the one called Rosalie standing there holding a few towels. "Esme asked me to bring you these fresh towels."

"Oh, thank you," I said and took them from her hands.

"Do you know how long you intend to stay with us?" she asked. I sighed, feeling as though they were already trying to push me away.

"No, but it won't be long," I said leaving out (' _especially since I am not wanted here')._

"Good," she said hatefully as she turned and left me standing in the doorway. I sighed once again and closed the door and placed the towels on the dresser. I made my decision to go find Carlisle and ask if I could speak to him alone, and then tell him I was leaving.

I left my room and joined the others. They all sat around the comfortable living room and the only ones who smiled when I came in were Carlisle and Jasper. I walked over to Carlisle and asked. "Carlisle, may I have a few words with you in private?" He looked around the living room and then back at me.

"Of course, Isabella. Why don't you join me for a quick hunt," he said as one of the others gasped. Carlisle and I both turned to see it was Jasper's so-called mate.

"Carlisle, she hunts humans. Surely you wouldn't join her," she said.

"Alice, as you can see by her eye color Isabella is learning our ways. I was speaking of hunting animals, not humans," Carlisle told her.

"But do you think it's a good idea to go alone with her?" I furrowed my brow and stared at the one Carlisle called Alice.

"Alice, Carlisle and Isabella are old friends. Stop meddling in something that is none of your business," Jasper ordered. Alice sat back in the seat and pouted like a schoolgirl, which reminded me of Edward and made me wonder if between the two of them they controlled most of what went on in this household.

"Come, Isabella, we'll go for a quick hunt," he said again, with no interference this time. We ran from the house and headed out about a mile or so into the wooded area before I began to speak. "Not yet, Isabella. Let us hunt first and then we'll find a spot to sit and talk," he said. We slowed, hearing a herd of deer not far off. Once we fed, Carlisle found us an open meadow that was full of wildflowers. It was beautiful. I smiled and sat down onto the thick grass. "I come here to think sometimes, it's quiet and the sweet smell of the flowers makes me feel at peace," he finally said.

I nodded, knowing what he meant. "Carlisle, I think I should leave," I said pointedly. He sat straight up and looked at me, his emotions were all over the place.

"But why? You've only just arrived," he said sadly.

"I know, but Carlisle your family doesn't want me here. I felt it the moment I arrived." He looked around the field with a confused look on his face.

"That's just nonsense, I've explained to them that we are old friends and have been for many years. I think you're just nervous and letting your imagination run away with you. Please, Isabella give them a chance. I know once they get to know you they will love you just as much as I do," he said not realizing what he had just said.

"You love me, Carlisle?" I asked as I watched his eyes grow to the size of saucers.

"Well, I...I didn't m...mean," he stuttered and I cut him off.

"It's okay, Carlisle. I understand it was just a slip of the tongue," I said sadly. I also figured out that he didn't see what we were to one another, at least not yet. "Listen, my old friend. Your family doesn't want me here, I know this. Alice for one hates the idea of me being here and so does Rosalie. When Rosalie brought me some fresh towels she asked me how long I intended to stay. When I told her not long she replied with a 'good' and walked away, and although your wife was sweet to me, I could feel that she doesn't want me here either. As far as the big vampire, Emmett, I think you called him. He couldn't care less either way. Jasper and you are the only ones who want me to stay. So I think I should go.

He sat still for a few moments and then yelled. "No!" and jumped to his feet and paced in front of me for a few seconds. He then turned to me and reached down and pulled me to my feet to stand in front of him. He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine and kissed me hard, but passionately, holding me tightly to his body. When he finally released me from the kiss he stepped back and looked at me guiltily.

"I am so sorry, Isabella. It's just that I can't be parted from you again. I don't know what's come over me, but I know that if you leave I will not survive without you." He stopped and thought for a few seconds. I waited for him to realize what he was feeling, and once he did he turned even paler than he usually was. "Oh dear god, what have I done?" he asked.

"It's alright, Carlisle, I will leave and your family will never know of the kiss. Even the seer won't see it because it was the spur of the moment thing," I told him.

"You know about Alice's gift?" he asked.

"I pick up other vampires gifts, Carlisle, that's what I do, remember?"

He nodded as he remembered. "But that's not what I meant, I mean, before. When I said what have I done. I was talking about how I've taken a wife, made a family when I had a true mate out there and I just now realized that you are she, my true mate, Isabella. I am so sorry I hadn't realized it before. I'm such an idiot," he said as he pulled me back into a tight hug and whispered. "What are we going to do?"

"I will have to leave, Carlisle." As if saying that could take care of all our problems.

"No, Isabella, you cannot leave, I won't survive without you near me. I just have to tell them, tell her," he said. "How did Caius tell you?" he asked.

"I was in the room, Carlisle. He couldn't hide it from me even if he tried," I told him. He nodded his head, pulled away from me and began pacing again.

"We'll go back and you will stay. I'll pull Jasper aside and talk with him. Maybe he'll have some ideas." He paused, not even thinking about just telling Esme the truth, before he began again. "I hate hurting Esme, she has such a sweet soul, but I see no way around it. She'll have to be told at some point or maybe she'll guess it at some point. She's very in tune to what's happening around her," he said. He turned to me. "Please, Isabella, just give me some time, we'll get through this, I promise. Even if we have to leave together I'll make this happen. We'll be happy, my love."

I hated this. What good is having a true mate if it shredded other people's lives? Now I see why Edward wanted me to stay away from Carlisle. I also see why Alice wanted me gone. They knew Carlisle and I were true mates and were trying to keep us apart. They thought I would destroy their family, and they would be right, but they also ignored the fact that they were breaking the law by trying to keep two true mates apart. They could be destroyed for doing this.

I was also ignoring Carlisle's rants. I knew he was confused about what to do. He didn't want to hurt his family or me, which caused him to become confused at what to do, so I let his words pass until he said what he said next.

"You knew we were true mates. When did you discover this? Did you know before coming here?" he asked.

"If you're asking me if I came here to intentionally destroy your family, then no. I only found out the minute you greeted me with that hug and with the words you whispered to me. Look Carlisle, you asked me to come, and if I remember correctly I told you that I shouldn't come because I didn't want to cause any trouble with your family. I only said that because your first companion treated me badly and I didn't want to come here and be treated in the same manner, and now I wish that I had stayed away. Maybe in a few more years you could have handled this, but now I see you are too distraught. I'm going to go and when you've figured this all out you can call me and I'll be there for you, but until then I don't think it's a good idea for me to be here," I told him.

He groaned and sat back on the grass and continued running his fingers through his hair. I took off towards the house and ignored the vampires that were still sitting in the living room. I ran to the guest room and retrieved my bag, repacked what little I took out, and left the house. It hurt more than I thought it would, and once I was a few miles out I stopped and fell to the ground clutching my chest and sobbing dry tears, for how long I didn't know, until I heard a voice that came from behind me.

Jasper stood behind me with one leg bent, his foot resting on the tree he was leaning on with his arms crossed over his chest. "We didn't get a chance to talk," he said as if nothing had happened.

I gave him a half smile, and nodded. "What is it you wanted to talk about?" I asked.

"Well, it's more than wanting to talk to you, I wanted to thank you for saving me along with Peter and Char. We didn't have any idea there was another way of life out there, and when you mentioned Carlisle's diet I knew I had to find him. But instead I found Alice first, who was also searching for Carlisle.

"I'm glad you found what you were searching for, Jasper, but can I ask you a personal question?"

"You can ask me anything, darlin'," he said.

"I don't wish to hurt you, which I think is becoming a habit for me these days," I said causing him to chuckle. "You do know that Alice isn't your mate, right?" I asked. He looked at me with concern, and I could see the wheels turning in his head.

"What do you mean, darlin'?"

"I mean just that. Alice is not your mate. If she told you that you were, then she lied. I haven't been around her long enough to find out why she lied, or if she's still lying, but I am sorry to be the one to tell you this. Maybe that's another reason she didn't want me around. She knew I would reveal all of this to you," I told him. I really didn't want to hurt Jasper, but I felt like I needed to make sure he was okay. I knew it had been some time since I'd seen him, but I still felt like he was family to me.

He pushed himself from the tree he was leaning on and walked around me and sat down next to me. He then looked at me. "I know that you absorb other people's gifts when you are around them. Is one of them the gift to recognize lies when you hear them? I also know you were around Marcus so you have the gift to see bonds and the gift of breaking them being around Chelsea. You didn't break my bond with Alice, did you?" he asked. My dead heart dropped at hearing him ask me this. I looked down at my lap and sighed.

What is it with these Cullen men that think all because I was part of the Volturi years ago that I am evil, evil enough to do bad things to people? I shook my head and stood up, not answering him at first. When I did the only thing I said was this. "I am no longer with the Volturi, Jasper, and even when I was I would never hurt someone unless they were breaking the law or trying to harm myself or my family, so if you think that badly of me then I will take my leave from you as well," and shot off at vampire speed, sadly leaving Jasper and the Cullens behind me.

 **A/N:** Next up in the beginning of the chapter Bella seeks a peaceful way of help from Peter and Char, but the rest is Carlisle seeking answers for what had just happened in the last chapter. How will it turn out? We'll see soon...thanks for reading, huggs.


	16. Chapter 16

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 16**

 **Isabella's P.O.V.**

I headed south, to the two people I felt could help me. Not only with Jasper, but they could help me figure out what to do about my feelings for Carlisle. When I touched Jasper I saw where Peter and Char had set up housekeeping and that's where I was headed.

It hurt to be away from Carlisle, and it hurt more that he thought I had only came there to destroy his family. But what surprised me even further was how Jasper acted. Why would he think that I broke his bond with Alice? Something just didn't make sense, and I for one was going to figure out what the hell was going on, hopefully with Peter and Char's help.

 **Carlisle's P.O.V.**

I didn't know what had come over me. To blame Isabella for what was happening was unforgivable. I knew this wasn't her fault, it was no one's fault. To find your true mate was a wonderful gift, so why did I snap at her, blame her for this? I have been feeling a little off lately, like I haven't been in control of myself. I don't know what it is, but it only started a few weeks ago. Well that's not entirely true either. I've been feeling it for a number of years, and it's just become stronger in the last few weeks.

When it started getting stronger, I couldn't explain some of the things I was doing. Like leaving in the middle of a scheduled work day and running home just to have sex with Esme. Not that I didn't enjoy spending time with my wife, but I never did things like that. My work was very important to me, and Esme knew this but welcomed it without complaint.

Things like this had been happening more frequently, things I couldn't explain. Like hurting my true mate. I didn't even think it was possible to do such a thing. I mean, when finding out that Isabella was my true mate I should have been soaring to the skies with happiness. I've loved that woman since we met in Volterra. My thoughts shouldn't have been so misconstrued. I should have known what to do without a million thoughts confusing the issue. It was true that I didn't want to hurt Esme, but this was my true mate. Esme would have understood, for that's what kind of woman she was. It would have hurt, but she would have stepped aside because she loved me and wanted to see me happy. So why was my head in such a fog? I didn't know, but hopefully I'd find out soon enough.

As I thought back to what had happened and how I treated Isabella, I cursed myself for the things I said, but I also realized what she had said about being in the same room with Caius when he found his mate. The pain she must have endured during that time had to be unbearable, and I just treated it like it was nothing. Damn, I was such an ass. What was I thinking?

I should have been there for her. Then another thought came to mind. If I had just stayed with the Volturi I could have been there for her during her time of grief. Maybe we would have found out a lot sooner that we were meant for one another. But noooo, I had to go into the world, become a physician and inadvertently start a family.

It also came to mind the way Edward had treated her while she was visiting in Denali. Edward had known from the very beginning how I felt about Isabella, for he was my first companion to whom I told everything. So why did he treat her so badly? Another question I needed answers to.

I knew they all love Esme, but you do not treat your true mate this way...Then it hit me. He knew, which meant Alice knew as well. They both knew Isabella was my true mate; Alice would have seen this happening and through her Edward would have seen it as well. Alice set this all up. She wanted Isabella to leave, to leave me, and although I commend that she was trying to save her family one does not stand between true mates No one does, well except Edward and Alice I guess. I cursed myself once again for spoiling those two, giving them anything they wanted, when I should have put a stop to all their foolishness, and I should have put my foot down when they began to complain about Isabella coming for a visit. I needed to speak to my family and needed to do it now! I pulled out my cell phone and rang Edward. When he answered I ordered him home now and headed to the house.

Once I entered the house I told them we were having a family meeting that evening when Edward arrived. No one said anything as I made my way to my office and slammed the door. I sat in my chair and leaned back and stared at the ceiling. I remembered the day I left the Volturi and how sad I was to be leaving the love of my life.

 _I remembered how badly I wanted to become what I was now, a physician. I studied hard and remembered how hard it was to abstain from drinking from the patients. I won that battle and the smell of human blood doesn't even bother me any longer. I became the physician I wanted to be, and without slapping myself on the back I'd have to say I was a damn good one._

 _I remembered when the Spanish influenza hit the states, I was in Chicago working in one of the local hospitals when I met Elizabeth Mason. She had lost her husband to the disease and she and her son Edward were dying of the same illness. Before she died she begged me to save her son. Whether she knew what I was or not, I didn't know. I did as she asked and made Edward my ward, my first companion and in doing this I found a friend, someone I could talk to, tell anything to and did. So yes, he knew of Isabella. But that's not the only reason he would have known about Isabella. I found out shortly after turning Edward that he had a gift, where he could read others' minds._

 _But a few years before that I was in a small town in Wisconsin. I had opened my own office and was dealing with patients who couldn't afford to pay much for a physician's attention. One day a man entered carrying a small child. She had fallen from a tree and had broken her leg. I found her to be a very beautiful child at the time and fixed her broken leg and sent her home with her family._

 _About a year after turning Edward I was in the same hospital. I was walking by the morgue when I heard a very faint heartbeat. Not that it wasn't natural to hear a heartbeat, we were in a public place, but there was no one in the area, so when I followed the sound I don't need to tell you how shocked I was that it was in the ice storage where they kept the bodies. I pulled back the sheet to find the little girl I treated as a child all grown up and still alive, but only just._

 _I called Edward explaining the situation to him and had him meet me at one of the doors that no one hardly ever used. After biting Esme and making sure the venom was doing its job I carried her to Edward who took her to a cabin we had mostly hidden out of sight of the humans and used when we went on extended hunts._

 _After he left with her, I did a little digging and found out what had happened to Esme. After she was found, the doctors I'm sure did all they could for the poor woman and with not hearing or showing a heartbeat on the scanner, proclaimed her dead and sent her to the morgue. Being a vampire with excellent hearing, I noticed she was not dead and saved her the only way I knew how when medical treatment failed._

 _To Esme, Edward was the son she had lost and tried to take her life over, by jumping from a high cliff, breaking almost every bone in her body. I set all her bones and left her to burn, knowing my venom would heal everything else including the bones I had just set after arriving at the cabin._

 _Esme was inconsolable for a while, but once she was past her newborn years she became better, mostly due to Edward's help, shortly after we fell in love and married. Well, she was in love with me, but I had to admit that I didn't love Esme. I was mostly content with my life with her as one of my companions, with only one difference. I was intimate with her, but I still constantly thought of Isabella._

 _It was many years later when I found Rosalie dying in the street. She had been severely beaten and raped. She was losing a lot of blood and I knew she wouldn't make it to the hospital, not alive anyway. I struggled with the decision of turning her and when the pro's outweighed the con's I bit her and took her home. I was hoping that she would take a liking to Edward. I felt bad for him being alone without a mate and hoped they would hit it off, but alas my hopes were quickly extinguished. Rosalie hated Edward and fought with him constantly. They even refused to be in the same room. Of course that corrected itself once Rosalie found her mate in a huge man who was dying from a bear attack in Tennessee ._

 _She carried him home to us and begged me to turn him. Seeing that they were mates I had no choice in the matter. Now that was an experience in itself. He was so hyper as a newborn, and even after his newborn stage he was still hyper to a point, but he did love Rosalie I'd have to say, especially in the way they carry on in the privacy of their bedroom. We may be family, but we're vampires as well and if we didn't want to hear the two of them going at it we had to just endure it or leave for an undetermined amount of time._

 _He demolished many walls as well as items that sat around the house during his newborn year and even attacked and drained a girl whom we found to be his singer, causing us to have to move sooner than expected. Not only once but twice. Two singers within two years...It could only happen to Emmett._

 _It wasn't long after Emmett had control of himself, that two vampires came knocking at our door. They said their names were Alice and Jasper. Both had gifts, but it was Alice who obviously had the gift of seeing the future. She said she saw them being a part of our family. They said both of them wanted to learn our way of diet and pleaded with us to let them stay. Of course I couldn't deny a request for help, especially in learning our ways of feeding, so I let them stay, and they have been with us ever since. Our family had grown immensely in a short period of time. And I, who was once all alone in the world, have become the leader of a large coven - or family as we liked to be called. Probably the largest coven in existence, followed closely by Eleazar's coven._

I was brought out of my musing when I heard some commotion coming from downstairs and moved to find out what was going on. When I arrived in the living room I found Edward and Alice at each other's throats, with Jasper trying to calm them down by standing between the two of them sending out a calming emotion that was doing little to help.

"Enough! What is going on here?" I asked in a demanding voice, wanting to know why my family was fighting among themselves.

"Nothing," Alice said as she back away and into Jasper's arms.

"Nothing? Obviously it's something or you wouldn't be fighting!" I said. I was already upset that Isabella had left me. Not counting the pain I felt in my chest from her loss, this was the last thing I needed at the moment, especially since I had called a meeting to get to the bottom of what was going on with my family concerning Isabella.

"It's none of your concern, Carlisle. So just leave it alone," Edward said in a commanding voice. I furrowed my brow with the way he said this and approached him, getting into his line-of-sight, and spoke again, this time more softly, but demanding.

"Since when do you talk to me like that, Edward?" I asked as he looked over at Alice with a confused look. I continued, but didn't let what had just happened escape my mind. "I asked you a question and I demand an answer...what is going on?!" I asked again. He looked me dead in my eyes, like he was looking for something that he found out shortly wasn't there, and backed away.

"Alice and I just had a disagreement about...uh...about some clothing she wanted me to try out and I refused. You know how demanding she can be at times," he said with a smirk, thinking his explanation had gotten past me, but when I looked over at Alice I noticed that Jasper wore a frown as well. He looked confused about something and I decided to get to the bottom of this right now.

"Meeting. Dining room. Now!" I ordered as my family followed me to the dining room table where I sat at the head while the others moaned and took their seats around it. I was used to my family groaning about family meetings. They hated it unless it was something they wanted to talk about, but this was me and they knew I was upset about something.

I looked around the table once everyone was seated and scanned their faces. I found Alice and Edward in a staring contest and I knew they were having a silent conversation between themselves as they often do. I also found Jasper looking between the two of them, still looking confused at what was going on. Rosalie sat looking sadly at her hands that were lying on the table and Emmett was being his lovable self trying to console his mate - for what reason I was about to find out. Esme was also looking down at her hands, looking just as sad. Maybe they do know about what Isabella was to me, I thought as I cleared my throat and started the meeting.

"Alright. Something has been going on in this family for the past few weeks and I demand to know what it is," I commanded. After saying this I saw Edward and Alice look at me in shock. Their mouths were hanging open, probably wondering how I figured whatever it was out, which I had not...not yet anyway.

"How did you do it?" Edward asked.

I looked at him with one eyebrow cocked as Alice, said. "Edward!" telling him to keep quiet. I moved my eyes from Edward to Alice in confusion.

"How did I do what?" I asked. I knew this would tell them I didn't know what they were talking about, but I wanted to know and no one was leaving here until I found out, and I told them so.

"Nothing, Edward was just…" she said as I cut her off.

"Just what, Alice?" I asked, waiting for an answer but not getting one.

"No one will leave this table until I get answers, is that understood?" I asked. They all sighed and leaned back in their chairs, crossing their arms over their chests. All but Jasper and Emmett, who both looked around the table, confused, at their family.

"Is this about Carlisle finding his true mate?" Emmett asked bluntly. Not realizing he was letting the cat out of the bag, and exposing Edward and Alice at the same time...he was such a child sometimes.

"Emmett!" Edward and Alice yelled, mad at him for giving up what they already knew. Esme covered her face with her hands, which led me to believe she knew of this as well. I sighed as I remembered how I thought she would be happy for me, but I guess I was wrong, because it sounded as though she knew of this before Isabella arrived.

"How long have you known that Isabella was my true mate?" I asked simply, but no one answered. "Okay, then tell me this - how did you keep me blind to what was going on behind my back?" I asked and waited.

"Oh, that's easy," Emmett said as Edward and Alice once again yelled his name. He sat back and crossed his arms looking hurt that they wouldn't let him speak, but there was someone who could override even Edward and Alice's command. His mate looked at the hurt on Emmett's face and sighed.

"Just tell him, Emmett, he deserves to know," Rosalie told him. Emmett smile and sat up and faced me as Edward and Alice once again yelled but this time at Rosalie.

"Oh, shut up you two. You've done enough damage as it is. Just sit there and take your punishment that you deserve," Rose said hatefully. Alice started to say something but Jasper grabbed her and shook his head, daring her to say another word.

"Edward dazzled you with his allure that we used to placate our prey and made you stop thinking about Isabella. He also made you do what he wanted you to do. He and Alice felt it was time for a change in leadership in this coven," Emmett said with a smile.

"And they thought they could do a better job?" I asked. Emmett nodded his head.

"Yeah, but I didn't like it and told them I was going to tell you what they were doing, but Rose said I shouldn't - that if I loved Esme I'd keep my mouth shut. So, I...didn't say anything. It's not that I don't love you, Esme, because I do, but it's not right what they were doing to Carlisle. You saw how confused he seemed lately and that is just not our Carlisle," he continued.

"It's okay, Emmett, I understand and I know you love me as all of you do or you wouldn't have taken it as far as you have to protect my love for Carlisle," Esme said.

I looked over at Esme. I felt bad about hurting her, but I needed to know if she knew about all of this, and it was obvious that she did. "You knew they were doing all of this?" I asked as I watched her nod her head. "So you knew about Isabella even before even I did?" I asked, knowing the answer before even asking. She nodded again. I sighed and looked at my family before speaking.

"I can't believe that you used your allure to make me do things against my will, Edward, and if I know my family as well as I think I do I'd have to say it was Alice's idea wasn't it?" I asked. Edward lowered his head and nodded.

"That's not fair, you wanted this as much as I did, Edward!" She screamed causing Jasper to grab her and sat her down on the chair she just jumped from.

"Be quiet, Alice!" Jasper yelled as she sat back in her chair and pouted. Jasper only shook his head.

"Well, I was worried about how I was going to tell my family about Isabella, but it seems I am the last to know. I have to say that I am very upset with you three - or four I should say since Esme was in on this as well. I guess I didn't know her as well as I thought."

"I'm sorry, Carlisle, but I do love you...I just didn't want to lose you to that girl, the human drinker from the Volturi," she spat not even acknowledging that Isabella wasn't with the Volturi any longer or that she was changing her diet.

"I guess I don't really know you at all, Esme. I knew you'd be hurt, but I thought you'd at least be happy that I had found my true mate considering how rare it is. I never thought you'd judge someone who is ex-Volturi; after all, that is where I first met her."

"But you never harmed anyone, Carlisle. She's probably killed thousands just for the Volturis' pleasure," she said.

"Oh, Esme...It's sad that you didn't get to know Isabella, and not only you but all of you. Isabella is the most sweetest, kind person I have ever met. She would never take a life unless they were trying harm her or someone she loved. The fact that she has so many gifts doesn't mean she's evil, which she is not," I said looking around the table at my children and then back to Esme, whose shoulders were shaking as she dry sobbed.

"I am truly sorry for hurting you Esme, but you know nothing can be done once you find your true mate. As for the rest of you, do you realize that what you have done is against our laws?" I asked as the three of them gasped. "Oh yes. To keep a true mated couple apart for your own reasons is against our laws, not only that, but Edward you broke the law further by using your allure on a fellow vampire. That's a no-no in our world. If Aro ever found out, especially since he longs for you and Alice to join his coven, he would be within his rights to do so," I told them trying my best to frighten them.

"Isabella is not Volturi any longer, but like Eleazar she could be called back for their protection. Of course Aro can't read her but it doesn't mean that she wouldn't tell them what happened, and it's because of you she went away. She doesn't know you from Adam so why would she care what happens to you?" He asked as I watched fear cross over all three of their faces. Jasper had his hand over his mouth trying to hide his laugh. He knew I was only trying to frighten them and it was working. I knew Isabella would never turn them in if only because of me and how I felt about my coven mates.

"I think you should come up with a way to bring Isabella back. I think once she's here and realizes what you did was to keep our family together she will understand, and I think that once she gets to know you a little better she will find you as agreeable as I do, or did until you did this to me."

The three of them sat thinking about what I just said and Alice turned to Jasper.

"You knew her from before, do you think you could call her and make her come back?" she asked.

Jasper sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid that I disrespected her as well, Alice. She's a little upset with me at the moment."

"You did, how?" she asked.

"That conversation is for another time, Alice," he said as he sat back in his own chair and sighed.

"We'll find away, Carlisle, and I hope you can forgive us for what we've done. We'll make it right, we promise, don't we guys?" Alice said. The others nodded their heads.

"What will happen to me, Carlisle? I can't stay here and watch as you and your true mate are together," Esme said brokenly.

"I do understand, Esme, and like I said I can't apologise enough for this, but I can't control how I feel. If you leave we will all miss you. Maybe you could go and befriend Marcus. He's lonely and would probably enjoy having you as his companion," I told her. She gasped at my suggestion.

"I can't go there, they are animals, killers," Esme said, horrified by my advice.

"They are no different from us Esme. Yes they drink from humans, but I fed from animals while I was there and I see no reason why they wouldn't let you as well," I told her. She thought about it for a minute, knowing she had nowhere else to go other than to Denali. She decided to go to Denali for a while and make a decision later on what to do.

I ended the meeting and started for my office once again while rubbing my chest, needing my true mate by my side. On my way up the steps I heard Alice and Edward talking about ways to get Isabella back. I smiled, but sadly realized I also had to come up with a punishment for my three children for all they had done. I couldn't let them think that what they did was okay.

As I entered my office I heard Esme dry sobbing again. I did feel badly about hurting her and I hoped she would find happiness again soon.

A/N: Bella arrives at Peter and Char for help, but she will run into another vampire she didn't expect to meet. I wonder who that could be? You'll have to read to find out. And yes, Peter and Char will be coming back into the picture...lol...thanks for reading, huggs.


	17. Chapter 17

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 17**

 **Isabella's P.O.V.**

I had found the general area that I saw in Jasper's mind where Peter and Char lived. I sniffed around while running in a wide circle, decreasing its circumference until I finally smelled his scent. It was old, but at least it was something. I followed it until I came to a small cabin that sat almost completely hidden in the woods and approach cautiously. I knew how volatile the two of them could be when startled.

Once I was at their door I sensed that they weren't there. I could tell that Pete and Char's most recent scent was days old. But I did pick up another vampire's scent that was close by and fresh, and that had me a little worried. I put up my shield and called out.

"Hello. Is there anyone here?"

"Hey, sweetcakes. What can I do for ya?" The voice said as he came around the side from the back of the house. He was a tall vampire with long brown hair that was tied in the back. He wasn't muscled bound like Peter but he was built rather nicely and he wore a friendly smile. He too had a lot of bite marks on his body and I wondered if he too fought in the southern wars, as the Whitlocks had. I backed away from the house and him as I watched this vampire come closer.

"Who are you, and where are Peter and Char?" I asked, afraid one of the other war lords had captured my friends. If they had I needed to know who so I could go free them once again.

"My name is Garrett Williams, I'm here watching over the Captain and his mate's house while they're gone, but they are due back at any time now if you wish to wait," he said.

"Isabella Swan, I'm a friend of theirs and needed some help with a problem I'm having," I told him, and why I would share that with this total stranger I had no idea. He walked onto the porch and sat in one of the chairs kicking his booted feet up on the railing, and patted the seat next to him with a smile.

"Come sit and tell me what you need, maybe I can help you with your little problem," he said.

I cautiously made my way to the porch once again and sat next to this vampire I had just met. I watched him while trying to figure out just who this vampire was.

"No need to fret none, little darling, I won't hurt you. I may bite a little but only in a good way if you get my drift," he said wiggling his eyebrows at me.

I rolled my eyes while shaking my head. Well, for starters he's a flirt, I thought to myself, but he seems harmless enough, and I sensed no lie coming from him. I decided if Pete and Char could trust him to watch over their home, then I guess I can trust him enough to at least speak with him, but I needed to know his story first so I let down my shield and faced him.

"So what's your story cowboy, were you also in the southern wars as the Whitlocks were?" I asked.

He smiled and shook his head at first before he spoke. "Well yeah, for a while I was, and yes, that's where I got these scars, but I'm more of a patriot. I fought in the revolutionary war back in the seventeen hundreds. I was injured and the next thing I knew I was becoming dinner to a vampire that was feeding off the wounded soldiers. He must have heard someone approaching so he took off and I was left to burn, and that's how I became a vampire. So tell me, what's your story darlin'?" he asked.

I looked down at the floor and sighed. I hated telling people that I was once with the Volturi because it usually made them feel uncomfortable, but I swallowed hard and began. I told him how I was turned and about my life with the Volturi and what happened between Caius and me, how I traveled after leaving the Volturi and what happened when I met with Carlisle once again and the consequences that happened following our meeting. After I explained all this, he hummed like he was trying to think of something.

"First of all, I have to tell you that I know Carlisle. He found me shortly after I was turned and helped me with my bloodlust and we became friends, even after he tried forcing me into giving his diet a try. It was the most disgusting thing that had ever touched my tongue," he said with a curled up nose, and caused me to laugh knowing what he meant, but I had gotten used to the taste.

"I visit him from time to time, but I've not seen him for awhile now. Maybe it's time for me to pay him another visit. If what you say is true, that doesn't sound like Carlisle at all. I think I should go see him and find out what's going on with his coven. As far as Carlisle and you being true mates...congratulations. I know how rare that is and I only know of two, well, three now, four if you count Carlisle and yourself, that have found their true mates. I'm happy that Carlisle has finally found you. I just hope he hasn't done something to cause him or you more pain than is needed.

"Well, that's not really why I came here to begin with. I'm more concerned about a friend of mine. I think his wife has somehow made him believe that they are mates, and I know for a fact that they are not. I'm more worried with what his so-called-mate is doing to him. I also know that if they met right after he left the southern wars, he wouldn't know anything about the ways of our world other than that of the wars he served in. I think she's lying to him, Garrett, and he believed her since he wanted to learn Carlisle's way of feeding, because he's an empath and was feeling the human's emotions when he fed.

"Wait, wait, wait...this vampire, it wouldn't be the Major, would it?" he asked.

"Yeah, Jasper Whitlock, or Hale is what he goes by now. Why do you know him?" I asked. I wasn't surprised to learn that Garrett had known him; I think every vampire in our world had either met him or heard of him. I knew Garrett wasn't there when I ended Maria, but maybe he was there earlier or with another overseer.

He smirked and nodded his head with a chuckle. "Oh yeah. Me and the Major go way back. We fought together in the southern wars, until Maria got a hair up her patootie and decide to end me, so I cut out of there as fast as my big feet could carry me. The Major didn't stop me and I heard him tell Maria as I left, to let me go that they didn't need me anyway. That little pixie's got the Major wrapped tightly around her little finger, and you may be right with your assumptions. I never trusted that evil little pixie, but Carlisle insisted that they were mates when I visited last. I wasn't welcome any more than Peter and Char were when it came to the seer and the mind reader anyway. I saw how she ordered him around and I about fell over when he jumped without asking how high. I've never met a mated couple where the female vampire was in control of her mate. It's usually the other way around, and I'm sure Peter and Char will agree with us. They hate her with a passion. She is the reason they and the Major had their falling out. Alice hates Pete and Char and won't let the Major anywhere near them," he told me.

"Huh," I said as I thought about what Garrett had said. "Do you know if Alice has ever come in contact with Chelsea? You do know who she is, right?" I asked thinking that most vampires had heard of Chelsea and tried to stay away from her. Garrett's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. I tried to remember if I saw Chelsea in Jasper's memories, but couldn't find anything about Chelsea that stuck out in his mind. I would have to touch him again to see. I was sure now that If I was looking for a specific thing I would find out if Chelsea had dealt with Alice at some point concerning Jasper.

"Oh yeah, I know the bitch, I don't have any bonds to break, but I still stay away from her because I don't relish the idea of being bound to the Volturi. I do know plenty of mated couples that would break their necks to stay away from her, though. I don't know if she was ever around Jasper or Alice, but I'm sure Pete and Char would know, and like I said they're due home any time now. I'm sure they will be happy to see you," Garrett said. Just as he said that we sensed two vampires heading our way. We both stood up to welcome who we thought was Peter and Char and knew we were right when they came into view.

Peter and Char smiled when they saw me and when they came to a complete stop they each pulled me into a tight hug. "Bella, it's nice to see you again. What brings you to our neck of the woods?" Pete asked.

"What, can't I visit a friend?" I asked.

"Of course you can, it's been awhile, what been happening with you these past few years?" Char asked.

"She needs our help," Garrett said pointedly. I turned to look at Garrett in surprise that he said anything. I was going to ease into it, but I guess Garrett had a different idea.

"Do ya now?" Peter said with a smile. "I figured someone with that many magnificent gift's wouldn't need anyone's help, especially someone like us," he continued.

"Wait...You're her, aren't you? The one with the gift of absorption?" He asked. I looked at him, confused.

"I thought we had that talk, Garrett?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I just now put two and two together. I didn't realize that you were the one everyone has been talking about."

"I'm being talked about?" I asked, a little shocked.

"Well, yeah. It's not every day you talk to a vampire with your type of gift. That kind of power is unheard of in our world," he said with a smile. I gave him a half nod and a half head jerk, not caring at the moment what other vampires were saying about me. My main concern was how to help Jasper and get him away from that evil little pixie. She'd caused enough trouble, and don't think I didn't know she had a hand in that little fiasco back at Carlisle's which I will deal with as well.

"So, little darlin,' what do you need our help with?" Peter asked, but before I could tell him, Char spoke up.

"Why don't we take this into the house and get comfortable instead of standing out here in the sun glittering like a bunch of disco balls," she said, causing us all to laugh.

We all went into the house and sat around the living room. The house was a true log cabin. The walls housed the same logs that made up the house on the outside. The steps leading up were on the other side of the wall where a television hung. The furniture included a sofa, love seat and a chair that looked well worn, but comfortable, with a coffee table front and center. There were pictures scattered around the room which I noticed had Jasper in a few of them. An arch in the wall across the room divided the living room from the kitchen. It was a comfortable looking house.

Once settled, Peter spoke. "You'll have to forgive us, darlin,' for not being here when you arrived. Char and I like to travel a bit, see what we missed out on while with Maria. We do this every now and again and Garrett is usually kind enough to watch over things while we're gone. Now would you mind telling us what's going on?" he asked.

"It's fine, Peter. I got to know a little about Garrett here while waiting on you," I told him as I explained about my meeting with Jasper again at Carlisle's and what had happened. I explained that I could feel something was wrong and what I thought Alice was doing to him. He growled when I mention Alice's name and stood up and began to pace.

"You'll have to forgive him, sugar. He hates that little pixie as I do, but Peter has a short fuse when dealing with that evil vampire," Char replied. I nodded my head in understanding. I didn't like her either; she was manipulative and dangerous to be around. Not to me of course, but to any other vampire she came in contact with. She used her gift to get what she wanted in any way she could and my only thought was to end her miserable existence, but without hurting Jasper in the process. Peter stopped his pacing and turned to me with a scowl on his face, starting to explain certain things to me.

"It had been a couple of years since we'd seen the Major. We were still in Maria's compound when we decided to split up. The Major wanted to find Carlisle and talk to him about his diet. Char and I didn't want to change our diet so we found this here property, and built this place, while Jasper took off in search of the animal feeder," he said as he began to tell me what happened after I left them.

"As I said, it had been a few years since we saw the Major and began to worry, wondering if he was okay, so when we found out where he was with a little help from a friend of ours, Char and I went up to where we were told the Cullens were living at the time. The moment we stepped into their territory the mind reader met us and told us that they didn't need our kind around. Of course I ignored the mind-raper and continued up to the house where we were met by the pixie. She told me we weren't welcome there and that Jasper didn't want anything to do with us any longer. When I told her I wasn't leaving until he told me this himself she scowled and called for the Major. When he walked out of the house he smiled and nodded his head towards us in greeting.

"Pete, Charlotte," he said with a smile. "What brings you all the way out here?" he asked. I told him that we hadn't heard from him in awhile and wanted to check up on him to find out how he was doing. He stood there like some kind of Stepford husband or something without saying a word. He just held that smile as if it was engineered just for him. It was then that Alice placed her hand on each side of his face and made him look her in the eyes. " _Tell them they are not welcome here, make them leave Jasper, for me sweetheart,"_ she said in a sickly voice. Jasper just smiled and kissed the end of her nose and said. " _For you darlin' anything,"_ and then turned to us telling us we weren't welcome there and to leave and never come back. Of course I saw what that evil little...vampire did. She used her allure on him and made him do her bidding. When I went to attack her for hurting my brother, Jasper attacked me and tore one of my arms off. Char got us out of there and helped me replace my arm. I wanted to go back and drag Jasper's sorry arse out of there, but Char said that we couldn't go up against all seven of their coven members, including Jasper, so we came home. Believe me if I can help you get Jasper away from that little bitch I'm more than happy to oblige," Pete said.

"Pete, do you know if Alice had any contact with Chelsea?" I asked. I knew he knew about Chelsea because Maria kept an eye on all of the Volturi's movements.

Peter looked at me in fear. "I don't know. I can't sense anything as if that had ever happened, but it doesn't mean it hasn't. If she has then she's bound Jasper to Alice," he said and looked at me. "Do you have the power to break that kind of forced mating mojo?" He asked. I just smiled and nodded my head.

"Good, then I guess we should pay the Cullens another little visit, don't you think?" he asked. I nodded again and I turned to Garrett.

"Want to join us, Garrett?" I asked. He gave me a smirk like smile.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, little darlin'," he said.

"Are we all agreement then?" I asked as each of them smiled and nodded their heads.

After going over the plan Peter and Char locked up, seeing Garrett was joining us, and we took off for Cullen territory. We went in Peter's truck so it took a few hours to get there, but we were all steaming with anger and wanted Alice to pay for all she had done. On the way Garrett told the Whitlocks what had happened to me while visiting the Cullens not long ago, and they were shocked at hearing this. They thought as I did that Edward and Alice had used the allure on Carlisle to drive me away from him, which pissed Peter and Char off further. They said they sound like masters of old when the south kept slaves and all of the Cullens were only there to serve Alice and Edward. We decided that was about to end as well, even if we had to rip them apart and burn them to ash to do it. Surely Carlisle would understand with the way he was treated. I hoped so anyway.

Peter and Char weren't worried about the Major and assured a nervous Garrett that I could control the Major with no problems at all. He sighed and I felt him ease into a calm state after I threw an emotion at him as we traveled.

 **A/N:** Time for all good things that Edward and Alice thought was good at least to come to an end...Bella and her friends will be facing off with Edward and Alice with a few surprises thrown in...thanks for reading, huggs.


	18. Chapter 18

**With One look**

 **Chapter 18**

As we approached the Cullens' territory and pulled up at the house, we were met with none other than Alice and Edward. It was obvious they didn't know I was in the truck when they went off on Peter and Charlotte for being there and for bringing another human blood drinker, referring to Garrett, when the three of them stepped out of the truck first. Of course Peter and Char ignored them and looked at them with a smirk on their faces as I finally stepped out of the truck.

Edward and Alice gasped at seeing me and backtracked, stuttering and trying to show more respect than they felt. "Alice, Edward, just the two I wished to see. Where is Jasper, Alice?" I asked as she looked around, trying to come up with something to keep me from him.

"H...he's not h...here, he went hunting, yeah that's it he's hunting," she said stumbling to find her words. I walked over to her and put out my hand to take hers so I could read her, but she backed away not wanting me to touch her.

"Afraid of something, Alice?" I asked as Edward stepped forward.

"Alright, that's enough. You people came here to disrupt our lives and try to order us around and I won't have it. I know you are Carlisle's true mate, Isabella, but that doesn't give you the right to come here and destroy our happy home."

"Destroy? You mean take away your rule of this coven don't you, Edward? I thought Carlisle was the leader of this coven?" I said and watched as he closed his mouth and stood there stoically, not admitting or disproving what I just asked.

It was then that Rosalie and Emmett stepped out. "Hey Bella. It's good to see you again. Boy, you should have seen Carlisle tear those two a new arse hole for what they did to you and him. They are supposed to be welcoming you, not causing more trouble. Man, you two are asking for it when Carlisle gets home," Emmett said.

Edward and Alice rolled their eyes at Emmett's comment and turned to him. "Emmett, be quiet! Don't you see they are here to cause more trouble that will further tear this family apart? Esme has already left us; are we just going to stand by and allow them to destroy the rest of what is left of our family?" Alice said.

"Looks to me like you and Edward are the ones they are focusing on, Alice. Not any of the rest of us," Rosalie said.

"Go inside, Rose, we'll handle this," Edward said as both of them turned and did what Edward demanded immediately.

"So it's not only Carlisle, but the rest of the coven you're controlling as well," I said as a matter of fact.

"I don't know what you are referring to, Isabella, but I will ask you to leave; you are not wanted here," he said. I laughed and stepped closer to Edward and cocked my head to the side.

"Are you going to let me touch you, Edward? Let me see for myself what's really going on?" I said which caused him to take a step back as Alice had done earlier.

"Seems like they both have something to hide, little darlin'," Peter said to me.

"We're not hiding anything, you all need to leave now!" he ordered and I smiled at him.

"I held out my hand and said. "Stay," as both of them froze on the spot, not able to speak or move a muscle, but I did hear Alice ask Edward what was going on in her mind. Causing me to chuckle. I then heard Jasper walk out. He looked confused as he eyed each one of us before asking.

"Peter, Char, Garrett, Bella, what's going on guys?" He asked as he walked out and stood in front of us looking over at Alice and Edward. Peter and Char stayed quiet. They were still pissed at Jasper for his action from before. Jasper turned back to me. "What did you do, Bella?" he asked with a scowl on his face.

"What the hell, Major. That little pixie and your brother treated Bella like crap when she was here the last time, and all you can say is what did she do to them, what about what they did to her?" Garrett yelled.

"This is none of your business, Garrett, I suggest you keep your mouth shut and mind your words towards me," Jasper growled.

"Bella is my friend so that makes it my business, son. I suggest you watch your tone with her," Garrett said back. Jasper growled and looked at me.

"I mean you no harm, darlin', forgive my tone of voice. I just want to know what's going on?" Jasper said.

"To answer your question, Jasper, I'm keeping them quiet while I figure out what they've been up to." I told him.

He nodded his head and continued. "All you had to do was ask one of us, you didn't have to do this," he said pointing to the two behind him.

"No one would have given me any answers, Jasper. You all are still under their allure," I told him. He laughed and shook his head.

"No, darlin' Carlisle ordered them to take it off of him, but I think when you left he broke out of it himself," Jasper said.

"What about the rest of you?" I asked. He looked at me with a frown.

"I don't know what you're talking about darlin' we were never under their allure," he said.

"Oh, so that's why when Edward ordered Rosalie and Emmett back into the house they both immediately followed his orders? Does that sound like they aren't still under a spell?" I asked. He looked at me and frowned once again and looked over at his wife and brother and then back to me.

"Can you unfreeze their mouths without unfreezing the rest of them. so I can at least talk to them?" he asked. I nodded my head.

"I could, but it's not a good idea, especially for you," I told him.

"And why is that?" he asked in confusion.

"Because not only are you under their allure, but I think you are also under Chelsea's gift," I told him. He looked at me with a furrowed brow and shook his head.

"I have never met Chelsea so how is that even possible?

"I believe that Alice used her allure on you and when Chelsea appeared she bonded you to Alice," I told him.

He laughed. "That's crazy, Bella. I think I'd remember if something like that happened," he told me.

"Then let me see for myself. If I'm wrong I'll apologize and leave here and never come back," I told him.

"You can't do that, Isabella, you're Carlisle's true mate. You both would die from the pain that would cause," he said, "and how do you expect to prove that you're right?"

"By touching you, Jasper, then I'll see what happened. I'll even let you see what happened so you'll know I'm not lying," I told him. It was then we heard a screaming moan, only louder, for Alice couldn't open her mouth to let it out. "I don't think she wants me to touch you, Jasper. Do you think she's afraid we might see something?" I asked sarcastically.

He sighed and moved closer to me. "Let's get this over with, darlin'," he said as I placed my hands on each of his shoulders and closed my eyes letting Jasper's memories flow through me. I also opened my mind so Jasper could see what I was seeing. I shifted through most of Jasper's memories until I came to ones I wanted to see.

I was proven right as I saw Jasper in the forest. He stopped and put his hand to his head giving his head a shake as if shaking off dizziness. He then stood up straight and stared out into space as Alice appeared with a smile on her face. Chelsea appeared moments later and stood in front of Jasper smiling as the first part of her bonding ritual had worked and she was reveling in her work. Before doing anything else she turned to look at Alice and spoke. " _You promise on your life that once Carlisle and Isabella are joined as one you will send them to the Volturi? Aro wants Isabella back and if that means taking Carlisle as well then so be it,"_ she said.

Alice smiled. " _Yes, I swear, by then Edward and I will lead our coven, this way Carlisle will be out of our way, leaving us to rule over the others,"_ Alice said. Chelsea nodded and turned her head back to Jasper and placed her hand on Jasper's forehead and spoke.

" _You are bonded to the soon to be Alice Cullen from now until forever. You will do as she asks and protect her coven. You will go from here and find her in a small town called Springfield just a few miles southwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She will be at a little diner there. You will agree to accompany her to the Cullen coven and there the both of you will remain,"_ she said as I saw a spark of light go through Chelsea's hand and enter Jasper's head. She then nodded to Alice and both of them disappeared. When they were gone I saw Jasper shake his head once again as if shaking off a fogginess they had left there. He then rubbed his chest and took off towards his unaware, ordered destination.

I removed my hands from Jasper's shoulders and slowly opened my eyes, as did Jasper who had a haunted look upon his face. He turned and looked at Alice. "How could you do this to me?" he asked and looked almost like he could cry. Alice closed her eyes and when she opened them again the glare she gave me would have melted metal if possible. I ignored her as Jasper turned back to me. "Can you break the bond that Chelsea has placed on me?" he asked.

I nodded and the mumbled screams began again. Alice was mad as hell, she didn't want me to take the bond off Jasper, he was her safe haven, someone to protect her coven once Carlisle and I had left to rejoin the Volturi. Little did she know I wouldn't be going back to the Volturi, I didn't care how much Aro wanted me back.

Carlisle must have showed up while I was reading Jasper. He didn't show himself though, he stayed hidden in the woods watching the proceedings as they played out, but I could feel his presence close by.

I laid my hand on Jasper's head and broke the bond Alice had Chelsea place there. Once it was done he smiled and thanked me and asked if I'd release Alice. I looked at him in shock, not knowing what he intended to do.

"I won't let her get away, I promise," he said as he walked over to her and stood beside her, as did Char being there for backup. At the same time he called Emmett. Emmett walked out and up to Jasper. "Stand next to Edward and don't let him take off," Jasper told him. When Emmett walked over to stand next to Edward I placed a hand on his head and released him from his allure. He stumbled a bit but regained control of himself and grabbed Edward's arm, waiting for me to release Alice and Edward. With a wave of my hand they were free from their icy prison. Edward didn't say anything, but Alice was ranting at Jasper for letting me break their bond, trying to tell him even though Chelsea had placed the bond there it still made them mates. Jasper only shook his head not believing how Alice's mind worked. "It was a false bond, Alice. One I didn't want with you. A bond with someone you love is a special bond, and the one you had Chelsea place on me wasn't real."

"But I do love you, Jasper," Alice whimpered.

"No you don't, if you did you wouldn't have done what you've done to me, Alice. You wanted someone to protect this coven once you and Aro had forced Carlisle and Bella back to the Volturi. Leaving you and Edward as the new leaders of this coven. I've got news for you, Mary Alice. It's not going to happen," Jasper told her. She screamed and pounced toward Jasper who had her on the ground and unconscious from his gift in seconds.

Edward tried to get out of Emmett's hold and it looked like he was winning or Emmett was tiring, I'm not sure which. Peter and Garrett, seeing this, took up their place to help Emmett, but Jasper saw this and gave Edward a dose of what he gave Alice as both of them were sprawled out on the ground as the others watched over them.

It was then that I felt Carlisle walk up from behind me and wrap his arms around my waist pulling me close to his chest as he whispered an apology for what had happened the day before. He told me he loved me and I could feel the tingles of his closeness run completely through my body. I turned and kissed him there in front of everyone, wrapping my hand around his neck and into his hair. What I felt for Caius was nothing compared to what I felt now for Carlisle. I pulled away staring into his golden eyes. "I love you, so very much," I told him as I kissed him again.

"How could you do this, Carlisle? She's nothing like us, and she's ruined everything we've built up for this family," Edward complained groggily as Emmett jerked him up to his feet once the lethargy started to wear off. He tried to move forward to talk to Carlisle, but Emmett and Peter jerked him back with little effort.

"No, Edward, It wasn't Isabella who did that, It was you and Alice who did that all on your own," Carlisle told him.

"Yes, it was. Edward and Alice are guilty. It's against our laws to keep mates away from one another for your own gain, for which you both are guilty. It's also against the our laws to use allure on our fellow vampires, of which you both are also guilty of," Aro said as he walked out with his guards closely following him from their hiding place in the woods.

"What brings you out here my old friend?" Carlisle asked as he released me and pushed me behind him. I knew this was a vampire thing and had experienced it before while with Caius, but I thought it was totally ridiculous considering my gifts.

"I think I've already explained that, Carlisle. I'm here to collect Alice and Edward for their crimes. Please don't try to defend them, Carlisle. I knew what had taken place long before I read Chelsea. You should know I know all that goes on in my kingdom," Aro said. I rolled my eyes knowing he had his spies watching the Cullens long before I visited them, due to the size of their coven.

While Carlisle and Aro spoke I looked over and noticed Rosalie had joined us. I could see Alice whispering something to Rose while Jasper and Char were paying attention to the Volturi. I waved my hand to stifle Alice's speech and called Rose over to join me. Once she was in front of me I placed my hand on Rose's forehead to erased any damage Alice had done. I knew I was successful when Rose's eyes cleared and she gave me a smile.

My attention was drawn back to Aro and Carlisle when I heard Aro say that we had to join him as well.

"What are you talking about, Aro? I'm not going anywhere," I told him as I stepped out from behind Carlisle.

"It is time for your return, Isabella, and with Carlisle being your true mate, for which I am ecstatically happy, I see no reason for him to deny coming with you," he said pointedly.

"Aro we've been through this and my answer is no different than it has ever been. I spent my time with the Volturi and I am done. I wish to stay here with my mate and his family," I told him.

"Isabella, I never forced you to stay with us before, because I knew how hard it was for you to be around Caius and his new mate, but now that you've got your own you can come back...where you belong," he said as an afterthought. I sighed, shaking my head.

"You never forced me stay, Aro?" I asked. I knew he couldn't make me stay if I didn't want to, and so did he, and I was sure the only reason he hadn't tried to get me to come back before now was because of Caius. I bet you real money that Caius doesn't know he's here now, I thought.

"I know you are powerful, Isabella, but you wouldn't harm me...I am your king, your leader. So you will do as I say and join me with, Carlisle, Alice and Edward," he said.

I laughed. "If you try to force me, Aro, I will stop you in any way I see fit, and as for Carlisle, Alice and Edward, they aren't returning with you either," I told him.

"Edward and Alice have broken the law, Isabella, and they will be punished for their crimes," Aro said in a serious voice. I stood there staring at him trying to think of a way around this. I knew they had broken the law and thought there was only one way to appease our king. I grabbed Carlisle's hand so I could talk to him through our minds before I suggested what I had in mind to Aro.

" _Carlisle, Aro is right of course. Edward and Alice have indeed broken the law and he has every right to take them for doing so. This is something Aro has longed for since he learned of their gifts."_ I saw Carlisle's brow furrow with my words, but he knew I was right. " _I have an idea how to get around this, but I will only suggest it if you agree. It's entirely up to you,"_ I said.

" _Can you hear me if I talk to you through my mind?"_ he asked and waited for my reply.

" _Yes, I can hear you,"_ I saw him smile and look down at me.

" _Okay my love, what's your idea?"_ he asked.

" _We can become Regents for the America's. Aro had always wanted you to join them and this way we can keep our family together and be part of the Volturi as well in a sense, but still live and work together here,"_ I told him. He furrowed his brow and again. He looked over at Edward and Alice and thought for a few seconds, before sighing. He then looked back at me and answered.

" _I guess it's acceptable, if you agree of course,"_ he said. I smiled and nodded my head.

I looked over at Aro who was watching us closely. It always amused him to see me use my gifts. "I have a proposition for you, Aro," I told him. His eyebrows shot up into his hairline as he sighed and rolled his hands in a gesture for me to continue.

"Okay, Isabella. This should be interesting, please continue," he said.

"You want me to still be a part of the Voturi, right?" I asked.

He sighed and nodded his head. "You will always be part of the Voturi, Isabella, even if I have to make you return," he said confidently.

I rolled my eyes and noticed some of the guard trying to hide their chuckles. They too knew Aro was fighting a losing battle. "What if Carlisle and I became the Regents for the America's, we could watch out for trouble here and make his coven members our guard so to speak. You have to admit that the brothers have a hard time watching over so many vampires that travel over here," I told him.

I saw the wheels turning in his head. I knew they were having trouble with watching the Americas. It was too far for them to travel and dangerous for the kings or even their wives being open for attacks. Plus, having the guard fly over to check on problems left their own coven with less protection. So my idea was a better one. After waiting a long couple of minutes, Aro finally answered.

"I will talk it over with my brothers, but I see no problem with it. But Edward and Alice will still come with me," he said. I shook my head.

"No, Aro. We will need them here if they are going to be a part of our guard," I told him. He sighed, knowing I was right. If he took them it would only leave us with Rose, Emmett and Jasper. Although Jasper is feared all over the world, that still only leaves us three guard members. Of course I was hoping Peter, Char and Garrett would join us, as well as the Denali coven, but I wasn't going to tell Aro that.

"Very well, Isabella, but those two have to be punished for their betrayal," he ordered.

"They will be Aro, and once we've work out all the details we will contact you to set up a meeting for your approval."

"Very well, Isabella. But I warn you...do not make me wait too long, or you will all be serving in my guard," he said. I just looked at him, not saying a word, knowing if I said anything it would be taken as a promise and Aro with his shrewd mind would find some way of bringing all of us to Volterra, or so he would think. He couldn't do anything to me or my family, and deep down he knew it, but I'll still let him think he has all the power, I thought.

"We will speak to you soon, Aro," I said. He nodded and said his farewells and took off at vampire speed disappearing with his guard following close behind him.

"You are a genius, my love. I would have never thought of something like that," Carlisle said as he pulled me tightly to his chest smiling down at me. "Now our only problem for the present is how to punish Alice and Edward," Carlisle said as all in attendance turned to look at our resident troublemakers.

 **A/N:** Did you like my little surprise? lol. Next up the Epilogue, we'll see how all this turns out and a little piece of Aro's point of view which led up to them being there, and Bella will get to talk to Caius...thanks for reading, huggs.


	19. Chapter 19

**With One Look**

 **Chapter 19**

 **Epilogue**

 **Carlisle's P.O.V.**

I was on my way home from my shift at the hospital when I felt the pain from my chest start to lessen the closer I got to home. Could it be possible? Could Isabella be at the house? I asked myself this, hoping with all I have that she was. Before I pulled into the driveway I stopped, seeing many others standing there surrounding my Bella. I pulled the car over to the side of the road and hid myself in the cover of the trees, gazing out to see what was going on.

As I looked over at the vampires that stood in my yard I realized that I recognized all of them. Peter, Charlotte, and even Garrett must have come back with my Isabella, for there they stood facing Edward and Alice. I was shocked when I heard what Edward and Alice was saying to my true mate.

I guess our little talk yesterday meant nothing to my two troublesome teens. I would have to find a proper punishment for them, and even as I thought that I heard what Isabella said about how the two had also placed an allure on the others. I was shocked to hear this, and not only that but Alice had somehow come in contact with Chelsea and had her bond Jasper to her. I sighed, as I was beginning to fear I might have to end Edward and Alice's existence.

What they had done was so irresponsible, they even sounded dangerous to me. Their actions sounded as though Aro himself had raised the two of them, with how much power they sought. I was sure if they could manage to take over our coven then they would one day plot to take on the Volturi, which I figured would definitely get us all killed. It seemed, though, that Isabella had a handle on the two of them. Jasper seemed a little the worse for wear after finding out that Alice had trapped him in a relationship that was manufactured. I saw Isabella release Alice and Edward from the hold she had on them and then saw Alice lunge for Jasper as he took her down with little trouble. It looked as though he used his gift on her, for she wasn't moving. Then Edward started, which landed him in the same boat as Alice. I took this as my time to step up and let Isabella know I was there.

I came up from behind her, knowing she could feel it was me approaching her, and wrapped my arms around her waist pulling her up against me. I whispered my apologies for my behavior yesterday and kissed her on her shoulder. She turned and kissed me more passionately than I have ever been kissed before, which sent a shiver down my spine, and when she pulled away we got lost staring one another in the eyes. She told me she loved me so very much, which sent my dead heart soaring, and then I found her lips on mine once again leaving all others from our thoughts as we drowned ourselves in one another.

 **Aro's P.O.V.**

We ran from the airport once we landed, not wanting to alert any of the Cullens of our presence. I had been keeping a close eye on Carlisle's coven for many years now. A coven his size was dangerous to have around for the Volturi. I kept one of my guards watching from a distance to make sure no plans were made involving an attack on us, and so far all has been quiet on that front.

But something did rear its ugly head one day when I became concerned over Marcus's actions as of late. I called Chelsea to my office to ask her if she was letting her control over my dear brother slip. Of course I didn't believe her when she said that she hadn't and asked for her hand to see what was going on. Not only did I see that she had indeed let her gift slip with my dear brother, but I saw something else that gave me reason to pause. I saw that she helped Alice Cullen trap Major Jasper Whitlock in a mating bond. She assured me it was for the good of the Volturi, telling me that once Alice and Edward took over leadership of the Cullen coven that Isabella and Carlisle would come join us once again. I was shocked to learn that Isabella had found her true mate in none other than my good friend, Carlisle Cullen and wondered why the bond chose now to show itself and not when he was living among us. I let that thought go rather quickly when I heard that Isabella would be among us once again. My soul purred with excitement at having her back.

Caius, with the help of Marcus, had alway stopped me from calling Isabella for certain details I constructed to check on covens that were being other than secretive among the humans. They said she wasn't needed for those missions and if I kept calling her for minor detailed missions, that she would stop coming altogether and what would happen if we found ourselves in dire need of her assistance? I knew they were right, but I just wanted Isabella back with us. I was so mad at Caius for letting her leave in the first place.

The possibility of Edward and Alice taking over the Cullen coven had me a little worried. Those two were a dangerous pair when working together to begin with, and what would stop them from trying to take over the Volturi at some point? Yes, when I had heard of their gifts I wanted them for myself because they would make the perfect addition to my guard, but cohorting together they could be a force to be reckoned with, and that had me worried. It also reinforced my need to get Isabella back under my control. If Edward and Alice were strong enough to use their allure against their own coven, what was to stop them from taking my throne? Something had to be done.

I had overlooked their bending of our laws, because although what they were doing was indeed against our laws, it's not one we've ever given any great effort in enforcing. Now that I saw what was in Chelsea's memories, the fact that Isabella was Carlisle's true mate had changed things. I must go and see for myself what was going on. While there, maybe I would find something that would help me gain my desires - getting not only Isabella back, but also Edward and Alice, and Carlisle would just be a bonus. I missed our little conversations, and with him here we could spend many evenings conversing, something I would look forward to. And with Isabella back with us, she would be here to keep a close watch over Edward and Alice to make sure they weren't trying something to move against us. After all, they were no match for Isabella's gifts.

Once we arrived at the Cullens' territory, the guard and I hid in the woods just beside their residence. I was happy to see Isabella there confronting Alice and Edward about their actions towards the Cullen coven, and she wasn't alone. I was also happy to find that she had aligned herself with the help of the Captain and his mate who fought side by side with Major Whitlock during the southern wars. They were also accompanied by another vampire I had never met.

I learned quite a bit standing there taking in all that was said, and I found what I was looking for. Although the charge of using allure against another vampire may not hold up during a trial, separating true mates was another story. That one alone would get them the second death penalty, and that's what Edward and Alice were doing - trying to separate Carlisle from Isabella, which confused me after seeing that Alice had promised Chelsea that once Carlisle and Isabella were together as one they would join me in Volterra. So why were they trying so hard to separate the two?

After standing there listening to what was going on I finally figured out what Edward and Alice must be doing. They didn't want Carlisle to leave their coven. He was their cover as a father figure and they wanted to keep him as such, knowing that having Isabella there could stop them from leading their coven as they had been doing for some time. Little did they know that breaking their promise to Chelsea would make them enemies of a powerful vampire. They would find their stay in Volterra miserable, not only from Chelsea, but her mate Afton who would probably be working closely with the two of them. I truly couldn't feel sorry for them at all, especially with Isabella being there to add to their torture. I grinned evilly at the thought.

Once I saw Carlisle and Isabella together I thought it was time to make an appearance. I made myself known and agreed with all that Isabella had said and was backed up by Carlisle. I delighted in sensing the fear that ran through Alice and Edward. I would not only have Edward and Alice, but Isabella and her true mate as well. I was floating on a cloud and there was nothing Marcus, and especially Caius, could do to change a thing. I would finally get my just desserts I had longed for for so many years. Of course Isabella fought me on most of it, but I threw my weight around, not showing any fear and letting her know that I led the vampire world, of which she was a member, and she would just have to suck it up and do my bidding.

When she took Carlisle's hand I knew she was using her gift, talking silently to Carlisle. I loved watching her use her gifts. It excited me to see that all that power belonged to me as her leader, as her king. When she smiled and looked at me and said she had a proposition for me it gave me reason to pause, but being the vampire I am I wanted to hear what she had in mind so I begged her to continue.

When she said what she said, it shocked me at first. She wanted herself and Carlisle to be Regents of the Americas. At first I thought it was an asinine thing to ask for, but after giving it some thought, I realized she was right with her assumption of us having problems controlling what was going on here in the new world. It was hard to keep track of things here, and it was also dangerous for us, meaning for the kings and our wives to travel here, and when we did send a few of our elite guardsmen here to check something out it did leave us with less protection until their return.

So maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. Plus Isabella would be part of the Volturi as I wanted, and we would have her guaranteed protection. I didn't like it when part of her bargain was to take Edward and Alice away from me, but she was right in that she would need them as part of their guard. I knew Isabella would be able to control them and I had to worry less about the two of them making plans to take us over, but then again if they tried I could blame Isabella and Carlisle and end their reign here and pull the whole coven back to Volterra, which would be a win, win scenario.

I didn't want to seem too confident in showing her that I loved the idea so I let her know that I would talk to my brothers and let her know what was decided, but in truth the decision had already been made. I think she knew this because she said she would draw up the plans and present them to me when they were ready. I chuckled a little in my head at her presumptuous actions. She was truly made to be a Volturi.

 **Isabella's P.O.V.**

It had become a big decision what to do with Alice and Edward. So while we decided, we placed them under arrest, This was a bit premature, since we hadn't even been given permission to be the Regents in America yet, but if I knew Aro like I thought I did, his decision was made the minute he left us earlier.

So we locked Edward and Alice in the stone covered, windowless basement and assigned Emmett, who took his guard duties seriously, to guard them. Emmett found he loved being made an elite guardsman of Carlisle and my reign, and so did Rosalie. Carlisle explained that she was always afraid of the Volturi, and feared they'd come for us at some point. With Carlisle and myself in control over this large an area she wouldn't have to fear them any longer and she could keep to her diet of feeding from animals. We all could without worrying about being around human drinkers - well, with the exception of Peter, Char and Garrett - but they wouldn't be bringing their food home to digest as the Volturi did.

Speaking of Peter, Char and Garrett, they had decided to join us in this endeavor as did the Denalis. Of course we had to find a new place to live, and it was decided in a group effort to move to Texas on Peter and Char's property. They owned a vast amount of land and we could build our own homes around one another and build a containment or jail, if you will, that could hold vampires. Edward and Alice would be the first occupants until we were sure they had given up their desire to rule the world, so to speak, and who better than I to know if they were telling the truth? Until then they would stay locked up until I knew for sure they were stable enough to join our little group.

The Denali's didn't wish to leave their home, seeing they had been there a very long time, but they did agree to stay with us part time and when not with us they would travel to us for important meetings that couldn't be held over the phone. They would also be available at the drop of a hat if need be to go on certain missions. This was all drawn out and presented to the brothers, who okayed it. This was also the first time I had spoken to Caius since I left the Volturi.

 _"How are you doing, Isabella?"_ Caius asked.

"I'm doing really well, Caius."

 _"I'm glad to hear it, I'm glad you've finally found your true mate and are happy, sweetheart. I'm also sorry about Aro's appearance this last time. I didn't know he was leaving the castle. If I had known, Marcus and I would have stopped him, but by the time we found out he was long gone,"_ he told me.

"Thanks, Caius, I am happy with Carlisle, and don't worry yourself about Aro, I learned to deal with him years ago," I chuckled. "So how are you and Athena getting along, are you happy?" I asked.

 _"Yes, we are happy as you now know, nothing can compare to how one feels when in the presence of one's true mate,"_ he said happily.

"You're right, Caius I do know that now, and I'm thrilled that you've found your happiness."

 _"So you will become the Volturi Regent of the new world,"_ he said.

"Yes, I guess Carlisle and I will." I chuckled once again.

 _"And after Marcus and I fought so hard to keep you away from all this, you will become a Voturi anyway, just not in our area but thousands of miles away,"_ Caius said.

"It's ironic, is it not? Aro has fought so hard to keep me in his control and now I am - well he thinks I am anyway," I said with a laugh this time.

Caius laughed as well, _"well, we'll let him think that if it keeps him in his place for a while,"_ Caius said still chuckling.

"Well, I guess I will let you go, we have so much to do before we settle in our new home. I guess we'll be talking again soon with our new responsibilities," I said.

 _"Yes, good luck, Isabella and if you need anything, and I mean anything, please let me know. I will do my very best to get it for you,"_ he said earnestly.

"Thank you, Caius, I appreciate that. Take care of yourself, and I hope to speak to you again soon," I told him and hung up with a smile on my face, finally feeling free of the connection I had with Caius, at least in a romantic way.

Carlisle came up to me and wrapped his arms around me and kissed my shoulders. "Is everything alright, my love?" he asked.

"Mmm...everything is perfect, Carlisle," I said as he picked me up and carried me to our bedroom where we finally made passionate love to one another. I swear I felt our souls join together with our physical joining. Who would have guessed that two humans who glanced over at one another during a spring dance would end up here in this position, in love and Regents of the whole United States of America - ruling over the vampire population in this area, second only to the brothers, the kings of the vampire world. I was happier than I had ever been in my entire existence.

 **The end.**

 **A/N:** Sorry I didn't get into the romantic end of Carlisle and Bella, but it will give you something to dream about...lol. Thank you so much for reading and for all the reviews, I loved reading them. I hope you enjoyed my little story, please leave a review and let me know what you thought of it, until next time...bigg huggs. Peggy


	20. Chapter 20

**With One Look**

 **Outtake**

 **Carlisle and Isabella**

A/N: I'm sorry it took me so long to get this out, but I've had real life problems, one being medical. Thanks for your patience...and I hope you enjoy...bigg huggs.

It had been a few months since Carlisle and I took on the responsibility as the new Regents of North America. We closed up the house leaving most of what we had there including most of our clothing, only taking what we would need until we could get away to do more shopping. We knew we'd have to buy more furniture and fixtures and things so we only took what was needed, such as important paintings, pictures and trinkets that meant more to some of us.

Jasper packed Alice's things, knowing more than others what she would want to keep and wear, and Carlisle packed Edward's things and what he would be comfortable with. He did bring his cd's and cd player so he could listen to music, and after we arrived at our destination he bought him a small upright piano so he could play. Carlisle felt that maybe by playing his music he would see the errors of his ways and come to his senses and join us as one of our guard. We would just have to wait and see how that turned out. We also kept them far away from one another; even though we knew Edward could hear her thoughts we hoped that it made some difference.

After settling into Peter and Char's home we sent the two obvious ones to do the shopping, that being Tonya and Rosalie, who loved to shop; they weren't as good as Alice - no one was as good as Alice - but they ran a close second as far as clothes go. For the furniture we would need we sent Esme. With her design skills she would be the best to tackle this endeavor, and I will explain more about that at a later time.

It had been tough in the beginning, but we all worked together and finally got the buildings built. The first building that went up was the containment building. It had something like six feet thick stone walls with 3 inch steel plates in the middle to make sure no vampire (meaning Alice and Edward at the moment) wouldn't be able to break through the walls. It also had six feet thick concrete floors and was buried into the ground against a large hill leaving only the front to enter or exit; it was well guarded once we put Alice and Edward into the cells it produced.

The bars were made of the hardest metal mixed with vampire bones and venom which made the bars stronger and burned any vampire that touched them. The sentries guarding the containment were warned to wear gloves if they had to touch any of the bars in said containment. It was set a good half mile from the houses, and next to it but setting a little ways back stood a larger building (something like what the humans use as a courthouse) where Carlisle and I would meet with other coven member as a greeting or to hear their woes. It also had offices for Carlisle, myself, Peter and Charlotte and it had a reception area as well.

When Carlisle and I walked into the pavilion I was taken aback; it was very lovely with rich colors of gold and reds, from the carpet on the floor to the drapes that lined some of the walls. It had a dais just like in the castle in Italy which was fine with me, but I made it clear that we would not abide jeweled thrones. A comfortable chair was fine for me and Carlisle agreed, so there were set two well defined comfortable chairs that would state exactly who we were without the jewels. We had also put two of the same chairs on each side of the steps that led up to the dais for Peter and Char who would be the head of our guard and our personal advisors.

We had asked Garrett if he would be the third in command, but he refused. You see, once Eleazer arrived Garrett took one look at Kate and was gone. He too had met his true mate. It seems that true mates were not as rare as we had once thought. Anyway, with the Denali clan coming and going and not living permanently with the rest of us Garrett felt he couldn't give his all and felt it wasn't fair to the rest of us so he bowed out gracefully. There was no way he could be away from Kate, at least until she decided to move here with him, but for now he was like the Denali clan only here partially.

The Denali clan were here for the first six months and helped us get settled in. They also helped decorate, which meant Esme was here as well. She stayed pretty much in the background at first while we planned and built, that is until one day she made herself known. She apologised for all she had done and wished Carlisle and me well. She begged us to let her help by designing and helping set up all we had to do once all the buildings were finished, which by the way went up very fast. The men in our group were amazed at just how fast they all went up.

Of course Carlisle and I accepted her apology and set Esme loose to design every detail of not only the pavilion (courthouse) but every house and building on the compound. She said she wanted to do it to show how sorry she was for her actions, and show us she did. Her designs were impeccable, and I was sure no one would ever come close to what she achieved here.

After all was built we decided to build a ballroom for parties or to hold a ball if that is what was called for. It really depended on what we would be celebrating for what we used it for, and we connected it to the reception hall away from the confinement building, and once again Esme's work was second to none.

We decided to build a tall wall around the compound following the Volturi design, keeping the gate we already had. Where we couldn't build over the small pond before we did so with this design, building a large grate into the stone for the water to pass through without trouble.

Char was even building a large garden behind the houses that surround one another so that the back of each house merged into the garden. Rosalie and I helped her with this project and I'd have to say that it was almost like the one in Italy, maybe even better. I enjoyed reading in the garden while in Italy and I hoped I'd find the time to do so here as well.

After all was built and we were finally settling down, Garrett and Kate went out to scout around the area and Carlisle and I were surprised when they came back and informed us that they had found a female vampire that wanted to meet with us on a matter. This was our first ruling as the Regents of the States.

Aro sent some things for us to show that we were an extension of the Volturi, meaning they sent the Volturi crest in necklace form adorned with jewels with the 'V' in the center, and the black cloaks lined with red silk just as they wear. Aro said that we needed to show our stature by dressing accordingly, showing we were an extension of them.

We agreed and Carlisle dressed in a dark suit; he looked sexy as hell and it took everything I had not to jump him right there and then. I wore an empire waist gown that hugged my body and fell to the floor with high heels to match. Carlisle walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him. He placed his hand on the back of my neck and pulled me to him in a passionate kiss; the kiss became heated and I pulled away softly placing my forehead to his as we both tried to catch our unneeded breath. "We have someone waiting, my love. We can't keep her waiting. We will pick this up afterward if you wish," I whispered.

"That we will, my love. I'm dying to be buried deep within you, I love you so much, angel," Carlisle whispered and gave me another chaste kiss before releasing me. He took my hand after putting on our cloaks and the Volturi necklaces and led me to the pavilion. Char and Peter were waiting for us as was Emmett, leaving Rosalie guarding the containment.

Jasper was there as well. He was also one of the leaders, only he was in charge of training all those who needed training. We were sure that the guard would begin to grow and we needed Jasper to make sure the new recruits would be trained well.

Our group were all dressed in suits as Char was dressed much as I was and all wearing their necklaces and cloaks. Carlisle, Peter, Char and I took our seats as the others lined up next to Peter and Char. Carlisle nodded to Jasper to bring the female vampire. He left and shortly after he approached holding the arm of a woman I knew very well. I sighed while lowering and shaking my head.

"Are you alright my love?" Carlisle asked. I took his hand and revealed how I knew this vampire, and Carlisle growled deep within his chest when he learned what happened long ago. He stood to face this woman. He was the epitome of a true leader and I was so proud to be his mate. When I looked back at the redhead, I saw on the woman's face that she recognized me. She swallowed hard and I could feel her fear as I was sure Jasper could.

"State your name," Carlisle ordered while standing tall with a firm jaw.

"Victoria, my lord. I didn't realize there were Regents in America," she said skittishly. "Were you one when we met last?" she asked me, ignoring my mate - which Carlisle wasn't having.

"You will refer your questions to me," Carlisle ordered, staring down at this female.

"I'm sorry my lord, but I know her and we kind of got off on the wrong foot when last we met. I only wanted to apologise for what happened," she said.

"What is your complaint?" Carlisle asked, ignoring what this girl had to say. She was looking back and forth between the two of us not knowing what to say. I could see she was afraid if she said the wrong thing it would mean her death.

"Well, your lord, my lady. My mate, James was attacked by a family of vampires and killed, they burned him to ash. I need your help in finding them and making them pay for what they've done," she said.

This was a sticky situation. Although it is against our laws to take a mate from his or her mate it would depend on why this had happened. If they were taunting the other vampires then they deserved to be killed, but if they did it for their own enjoyment, then they deserved to stand trial for their crimes.

"And how did this come about?" Carlisle asked.

"Well, you see James and I were nomads and we were passing this area. We came in contact with this reservation and they had these giant wolves who chased us. When they finally gave up the chase we found ourselves on this property that belonged to these other vampires. They told us we were trespassing on their territory. We told them what had happened and they seemed to understand and told us to be on our way. We complied, but on our way out of the city we came across this human and she started flirting with my mate. Of course, James told her he was taken, but she didn't stop so James pushed her away. She fell and tumbled down this embankment and was hurt, but before we could help the poor girl James was attacked by someone saying that she was his mate and that James was going to die for laying hands on her. Then the rest of the coven showed up and tore him apart. I ran and hid in one of the trees and watched as they burned my James," she said sobbing.

"You are telling me that one of the vampires in this coven has taken a human mate?" Carlisle asked. I knew from everything she said she was lying. I needed to touch her to get the truth out of her, and I would let Carlisle know as soon as he finished questioning her.

"Yes my lord, I hung around to see what had happened to the girl and heard the leader of their coven tell his coven mate that he needed to turn her, but the male mate said he would not damn the girl's soul and she would be his until she died of old age and then he would follow her in his second death. This angered the coven leader, who told him this was unacceptable and if the Volturi ever found out they would kill them all, but the mated boy wouldn't hear of it. It was then that I took off and that's when that guard found me," she said pointing to Garrett.

Carlisle looked at me and I shook my head in the negative, telling him she was lying. He held out his hand for me to take and led me down the few steps. Garrett, knowing what was happening, joined Jasper taking his place on the other side of this girl as Carlisle and I approached to stand in front of this redhead.

"You said that you met my mate; do you know what gifts she holds?" Carlisle asked.

The redhead looked between me and Carlisle once again before speaking. "I know that she can toss someone across the field without touching them although I don't know what that gift is," she said softly afraid of what she was about to hear.

Carlisle nodded, "That would be her shield. That is one of many that she has, and although it is but one gift it holds many. Her gift is called absorption. She is able to pick up and copy any and all gifts other gifted vampires have, and one of those gifts is that she can tell when someone is lying, and you my dear have just lied to the Regents of America. Now, do you wish to tell me the truth or would you rather my mate touch you and let us see what really happened with another gift she has copied?" Carlisle asked.

The redhead stepped back and started to run off, but I put my shield around her even before Garrett and Jasper could stop her she bounced off it and hit the floor. She jumped up and began to feel the bubble that surrounded her. "Please, I just want revenge for my mate's death," she screamed.

I shrunk the shield until she couldn't move and reached in and grabbed her hand. She fought to be released, but I held on as I grabbed Carlisle's hand and began seeing what really happened, but I saw more than that. I saw her and her mate terrorizing many vampires and humans alike throughout the years. They would play with them, torture them, and then kill them for no other reason than to have some sick pleasure. I also saw what James did to the human girl; he chased after her and tried to rape the human until the coven found them - and yes, they did indeed kill him and then burned him to ash. Carlisle gasped when I released his hand and stood steadfast glaring at the girl.

"I have seen what you and your mate have done as nomads and it sickens me. You will be held until we talk with this coven and then you will be judged for your crimes," Carlisle told her.

She let out a insane laugh, "You won't be able to hold me. I am an expert at escaping, it is my gift. I'll be long gone before you even know I've left," she said hysterically. Carlisle looked at me.

"Isabella?" he asked and I knew what he wanted. I looked at the girl and smiled.

"You won't be able to escape us, Vicky. I know this because I have your gift and have analyzed every scenario and I've seen that you won't be able to escape from the containment," I told her as I watched her expression change to one of fear.

"Please gentlemen escort our guest to her new quarters," Carlisle said. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to him as Jasper and Garrett dragged Victoria out of the room kicking and screaming after I dropped my shield from around her.

"The girl is insane," Peter said as he approached us. I nodded my head in agreement.

"That she is and so was her mate, but there was another with her when I first met him. I wonder if he got tired of their way of life and left?" I asked.

"Did you know his name?" Char asked.

"Yes, I think they called him Laurent," I told her.

"I'll look through the files Aro sent and see if I can find him. If he's been on the Volturi radar he would be there," Char said.

"Thank you Char, that would be very helpful," she smiled and wrote down his name as I said it and then turned to my mate. "Carlisle," I said.

"Yes my love," he replied and gave me his attention.

"We need to bring that other coven here and hear their side of things and find out about this human they are harboring. We need to find out if she knows of our world. If so, she needs to be changed or she must die," I told him. Carlisle looked sad at first. I knew he would hate this part of being with the Volturi, but it was a must. "If this girl blabbed to someone else in her world it could cause the destruction of many. I would rather kill one than a whole town full of people," Carlisle nodded finally agreeing but hating the thought of being responsible for the death of so many.

I kissed his lips softly and smiled as I moved close to his ear and whispered. "Let's go home, my love. I need you to care for me," I said too low for others to hear - or so I thought until I heard Peter bark out a loud laugh and saw Char smack him upside his head.

Carlisle and I were heading back to our home when we saw Jasper and Garrett walk out of the containment with a smile on their faces. Emmett had taken over as guard for Rosalie as she took off to feed.

"Carlisle, the Denali clan and I will be leaving now. They were only waiting until we took care of our new guest," he said.

"I see...I wonder if you and Eleazar would do me one last favor before you leave?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm sure he would, what do you need, Carlisle?" Garrett asked.

"I need someone to go to Washington State in a town called Forks and pick up a vampire coven and bring them here. We also wish the presence of the human girl they have in their company," Carlisle said.

Garrett took off to find Eleazar as Isabella and I went to our home and to our room closing the door behind us. Carlisle pinned me to the door and removed my cape and ripped the dress I wore from my body as I removed his cape and jacket. I began popping off buttons on his vest and ripping it and his shirt off his body exposing his sculpted chest, sending shivers down my spine. "Carlisle I need you now," I pleaded and he picked me up and carried me to our bed. He lowered me to the bed placing me in the center. He removed his slacks and I was purring at how he had gone commando. He then tore my bra from my person and ripped my panties off and spread my legs and placed himself between them and lowered himself into me after finding I was dripping wet in want for him. Our lips meet in a fiery kiss as we both moaned in ecstasy.

The moan continued as he inched his way into me. I could tell he was enjoying the feel of my tight center surrounding him causing us both to growl in pleasure. He ended the kiss and with his lips never leaving my body he moved over my cheek and placed soft kisses across and down my neck continuing until he reach collarbone. "Carlisle," I moaned as his lips latched onto one of my pert pink pebbles, nipping and lathering them both with his tongue causing me to arch my back off of the bed. I was in heaven feeling him deep within me as he began to move more forcefully. I wrapped my legs around his waist and scraped my fingernails across his back. Carlisle hissed and began to move faster.

"Isabella," he hissed for when I wrapped my legs around him it caused him to go deeper. He was panting my name with every thrust, and I was panting trying to keep up with him. "Oh God, Carlisle, that feels so good!" I screamed as he placed his hand under my backside and held me in place as he pounded harder.

"Oh, Bella, I love you so much," he panted as he sat back on his heels and pulled me up close to his chest. He grabbed my hips and began pound even harder.

"Oh, Carlisle I'm so close," I yelled.

"Come for me my Angel, come for me now," he demanded and with the tone of his voice I came harder than I ever had come before. My center clamped around his length and he groaned coming right after me and spilling his seed deep with me. We stayed in one place for a few minutes trying to compose ourselves and without pulling out he pulled me into a passionate kiss. "I love you more than I can even explain, Isabella. You are mine for eternity and you've made me the happiest man in the world," he said after ending the kiss and then began kissing me again.

"I love you too, Carlisle. You are my world and I couldn't survive without you in my life," I told him after he once again ended the kiss. He laid me down on the bed as he slowly pulled himself out of me and lay next to me pulling me to his chest. We both lay there happily sated, and before long there came a knock at the front door. I groaned not wanting to move from our bed. Carlisle said it was probably Eleazar. Carlisle kissed the top of my head as we both rose, moving as fast as we could gathering fresh clothes before we could answer the door.

Once we opened the door we were faced by Eleazar and Garrett who both wore a smile. I'm sure they knew what we had been up to. We led them to the living room and sat down. Carlisle grabbed my hand and we faced our guests.

"Garrett said you need us to stop and pick up this other coven who lives in Forks. Garrett told me most of what happened in the pavilion with the redhead. Is it true they have a human?" Eleazar asked. Carlisle nodded.

"Yes, Isabella saw it when she touched Victoria. We need to know what this human knows. If she is aware of our world then she must be turned or killed. I hate the thought of doing this to the girl, but it is better to kill one than an entire town. I understand from what Bella saw from the redhead that the mate refuses to turn her; I only hope they will change their minds and turn her while they are here. " I told him. He nodded his head in understanding.

"Your decisions are hard, my friend, and I don't envy you. Garrett, Jasper, Kate and I will see it done. If you don't mind I will send Carmen and the girls home while we do this; then once it it done I will join them," he said.

"Thank you my friend, the jet awaits you when you are ready. What of Esme; is she not accompanying you?" I asked.

"No, I think she wants to stay here. I told her she could stay in our house here while we are gone if it's alright with you, of course," he said.

"Oh, yes, it's fine with me. If that's what she wants to do," I told him. He nodded at Garrett and they rose and left to ready themselves. They all dressed in the proper attire along with their crest and capes and left to do our bidding. I sighed not wanting to do this but it had to be done. We did decide to become Regents, so this was just part of our duties.

A few minutes later Char knocked on the door. When I answered she said she had some information on the coven Eleazar went to retrieve. I showed her in and led her to Carlisle's office and knocked.

"Come in my love," he said as I led Char to one of two chairs that faced Carlisle's desk. "Hello Charlotte, what can we do for you?" he asked.

"I've got some information on that coven you sent Eleazar after."

"Okay, what do you have?" Carlisle asked cheerfully.

"It seems that the Volturi have been keeping an eye on them. There are five of them. The leader's name is Bill, or William if you prefer, Long. He has a mate and her name is Sue. The other three are males, Mark, Joseph, and Leo. Leo is the one who is mated to the human girl. It says here that the Longs have a treaty with the wolves from the reservation that states as long as they don't bite or cause harm to another human they are free to live in Forks. They are also not allowed to cross over into the wolves' territory and the wolves are not allowed to cross over into the Longs' territory in wolf form. That's all they have on them," she said.

"Are you telling me that these vampires are animal drinkers?" Carlisle asked. Char shrugged her shoulders.

"It doesn't say, but I'm guessing that they are. How else are they to follow the wolves' treaty if they don't?" Char said.

"Interesting...I'll have to think on this. It's not every day that we cross other animal drinkers. I always thought my family were the only ones...most interesting," Carlisle said. I could see the wheels turning in his head.

"Well, you'd better think fast because they will be here soon, Carlisle," Char said.

Carlisle looked over and Char and smiled. "Thank you Charlotte."

"You're welcome, Carlisle," she said and got up and left.

Eleazar and his group weren't gone long before we received news that the plane had landed. They had left the car at the airport when they left and used it to drive them all back here. We had built a house that had six bedrooms just for this kind of situation. We built it not far from the containment building giving them a full view to make them nervous in case they wished to cause any trouble.

We also built a house with the same number of bedrooms for when Aro and his brothers arrived, making room for any guard members that might be traveling with them, and it too backed up to the garden. It was more luxurious than any of the others, but that is what the brothers and their wives were used to.

Bella and I walked over to my office, where Peter and Char joined us as well and waited for Eleazar and the rest. We heard the car pull in and watched through the window as the four of them showed our guests to their rooms. It wasn't long before Eleazar, Jasper, Garrett and Kate joined us.

"How did it go?" I asked as they looked at one another before they spoke.

"She knows. They tried to deny that she knew, but when she saw Garrett's eyes she cringed and asked if we were with the Volturi. How does she not know if she knows of them - us," Jasper said.

I nodded my head, "Yes, I was afraid that was the case. Did you bring the human as well?" I said.

"Yes, she's with them," Kate said. I nodded my head.

"So do they drink from animals like Charlotte suggested?" Carlisle asked.

Jasper smiled. "Yes they do, Carlisle. I was surprised as you are; I've never known another coven to follow our diet," he said.

"Nor I, son, well none other than Eleazar's coven, but we've known you all forever or so it seems," Carlisle said with a chuckle that Eleazar echoed. Carlisle spaced out for a few minutes. I could tell he was thinking hard on something, while the rest of us shared comments on the strange coven. We were interrupted when Carlisle spoke again. "Once they are settled in bring them to the pavilion; we will need to speak with them," he said as he walked over to his closet and pulled out his black cloak. The others left to check on our guests while I went to my own office and got my cloak as well.

When I went back to Carlisle's office he was sitting in his chair staring out the window. "Carlisle, is being Regent becoming too much for you? Because if it is we could alway…" I was cut off with Carlisle jumping from his chair and facing me at vampire speed. He palmed my face with his hands and smiled down at me.

"No my love, it has nothing to do with that. I'm just at a loss of what to do with this coven if they refuse to turn the human girl. I've never come across another coven that fed from animals like we do. I'd hate having to kill their whole coven all because they refuse to do so. That's what's bothering me," he said.

I nodded my head in understanding. "Maybe after we talk them into turning the girl we can ask them to join us. We need more guards especially when Eleazar returns to his home," I told him.

"He smiled and kissed me hard. After releasing me from the kiss he said.

"You, my dear beautiful mate, are a genius. Let's go," he said grabbing my hand and leading me into the main room of the pavilion.

We sat in our chairs overlooking the room. I looked over and smiled at Jasper. He returned the smile as Carlisle asked him and Rose to retrieve our visitors and bring them here. Jasper and Rose lowered their heads to us and left to do our bidding.

It wasn't long before the coven stood before us. All five held their heads up high as if they didn't fear us at all. One of them held the young human girl tightly to his side and somewhat behind him in protection, as did the leader to his mate.

"What are your names?" Carlisle asked.

"Who are you to be asking our names, taking us from our homes and bringing us to this godforsaken place?" the presumed leader asked.

Carlisle stood with a growl that reverberated off the walls causing all but the leader to take a step back. Jasper and Rose stepped forward, close enough to take action if any one of them started something, even knowing that I would take action myself if they even tried. Carlisle put up his hand halting Jasper and Rose and they took a step back at his silent command.

"I am Carlisle Cullen and this is my mate, Isabella Swan. We are the Regents of the Americas, sworn in by the Volturi brothers to rule these lands. You, sir, are in violation of the law. You do know the laws we go by, yes?"

It was quiet for a moment before the leader looked at the one holding the human girl and then back to Carlisle and myself. "Yes, I guess I do," he said quietly, knowing he was facing the Volturi here close to his home, which he didn't expect I'm sure. There were probably a lot of vampires that didn't know the Volturi were this close to their homes.

"Then you know that no humans are supposed to know about our kind, but yet you harbor one," Carlisle said as he pointed to the girl who pressed her head into the young boy's arm.

The leader of the coven sighed and nodded his head before he spoke. "You see, we have this treaty..." was all he got out before I stood up by Carlisle's side. I touched his arm and began to speak

"Before you speak you should know that I have a gift called absorption, which means I pick up any gift I'm in contact with. One of those gifts is that I can tell if you lie. So watch your words. Oh, and we know of the treaty you have with the wolves," I told them as they all stood with their mouth hanging open. I don't know if it was because they'd heard of me or were shocked at the idea of some vampire having that gift.

"My lady, I have heard of you and I thank you for giving us this knowledge beforehand, but if you know of the treaty then you know that we cannot bite a human, so you see we are in quite the conundrum," the leader explained.

I walked over to the group of vampires with Carlisle by my side. I looked at the five of them one at a time, and none looked worried about their situation including the girl's mate. The girl was another story.

"What is your name?" I asked the girl's mate.

"Leo, my lady."

"And why haven't you turned your mate?" I asked.

"Because of the treaty, my lady," he said again and I knew he had just lied to me. Yes that was part of it, but not the total truth.

"You just lied to me, boy! Tell me the truth!" I demanded. He looked around to his brothers, and then back to me knowing they couldn't help him.

"I...I do not want to damn my mate's soul to hell," he stuttered.

"And what makes you so sure she will be damned?" I asked. He swallowed hard and put his arms around his mate and pulled her closer, noticing that she was shaking uncontrollably with fear. When he didn't answer I asked him another question.

"Do you love the girl?"

"Yes, of course I do," he answered truthfully.

"And you girl, do you love him?" I asked. She nodded her head.

"Do you have a voice?" I asked.

"Yes ma'am."

"Then use it. Do you love this boy?" she nodded again, but this time she put words to movement. "Yes, my lady," she said.

"Do you want to become a vampire?" I asked. She nodded her head again and when she began to speak the boy interrupted.

"It doesn't matter what she wants, I will not change her and that's final," he replied fiercely. I looked at him with a smirk.

"So you would let your whole coven die including your mate just to keep her from being a vampire?" I asked. He said nothing but stood tall and firmed his jaw.

"I will turn her," the leader said.

"The hell you will, brother!" the boy said

"We will all die, Leo, and for what? Your stupid idea of keeping her human!?" The leader said.

"Yes, if I have to die to save her soul then so be it," the boy said.

"But it's not just you, Leo. It's all of us," the leader said. Again the boy stood stern.

"The girl will be turned, by yourself, your brother or one of us and you will serve time in our jail. Jasper," I said as he made his way over and grabbed the boy and took him away. He screamed, as did the girl.

The leader of the coven walked over to the girl and pulled her into his arm protectively as did his mate. "The wolves will kill us you realize?" he said sadly.

"You don't have to go back if don't wish to," I told him.

"You can stay here with us," Carlisle suggested.

"I will not work for the Volturi," he growled.

"We are an extension of the Volturi. We are nothing like them. If we were like them you would all be dead including the girl. Instead we offer you a home here with us. The vampire that took your brother away can help you with the girl's newborn years if you wish. He is our trainer to make you better fighters. We need guards for this compound and if you are in agreement we'd like to add you to our guard," Carlisle continued.

The leader just stood there thinking as Joseph, the middle brother, spoke up. "He's right Bill, these vampires are not like the ones in Italy. I've seen what they do to those who break the rule about humans knowing of us. They kill the whole coven and they haven't. They only ask us to change the girl and put Leo in their jail. It won't be the same as the Italian coven," he said.

Bill stood there staring at his brother and looked back at us. "How long will Leo be imprisoned?" Bill asked.

"As long as we see fit to keep him there," Carlisle answered. Bill huffed but understood that because of his little brother they could have all died, so he nodded his head.

"Okay, we are at your service." Bill said.

"Now if you wouldn't mind would you stand back against the wall with Rose," I asked them. They looked at me confused, but did as I asked and we heard the screeching of a female vampire enter the room in Jasper's hold. When she got to the room she saw the male vampires that had killed James and screeched once again.

"You! You killed my mate. You will die for this!" She screamed as she broke loose from Jasper's hold and flew at the vampires at the back of the room. I threw out my shield and wrapped her in it and she bounced of the edges of it. "Let me go...they must die!" she screamed.

"No Victoria, it is you who must die," Carlisle said as I called up the fireballs and rolled them into the palm of my hands. I let loose the fireballs and sent them to Victoria and as they came close to my shield it dropped and the fireballs hit her dead in her chest causing her to burn to ash in seconds.

The male vampires at the back of the room holding the human girl stood with their mouths open, not believing what they just saw. When they were over their shock Bill said, "We killed her mate." I looked over at them and nodded.

"Yes, we know." I said as I turned to Peter. "Clean up that mess, will you sweetie," I asked pointing at Victoria's ashes as I joined Carlisle and sat on his lap.

"Why can't Jasper do it?" Peter asked.

"Because he will be helping Bill turn the girl," I said as I nodded to Jasper and he took the new guards and the girl to be changed. Peter sighed and got up and swept up the ashes as Char giggled and I kissed my mate passionately.

"That was easy," Carlisle said. I raised my eyebrows at his statement.

"Easy for you to say. You didn't have to kill anyone," I told him. He smiled and kissed me again.

So our compound was beginning to grow as was our jail, evidently. Within the next year Aro sent some of his lower guards to supply us and help build bigger and better cells.

Aro was happy to learn that Alice and Edward were still imprisoned and nowhere near ready for parole. I still haven't got the feeling that they wouldn't try something even with them begging to be let out on good behavior.

So yeah, our compound was growing and most of the Americans know we're here now. They're pretty much behaving themselves and those who don't - well, they're being taken care of.

Leo finally learned the error of his ways and is happily with Stacy who was finally through her newborn year, thank the gods. She was a hellion, I'll tell ya. But she's fine now and has a gift. She can tell when someone lies. Yeah, it really doesn't matter seeing I can do the same thing, but hey it keeps Leo in line.

Jasper trained the Long brothers and Sue the leaders mate and of course Stacy and has trained quite a few since. He's also found his true mate in a human Tonya found almost dead and turned. Her name is Daisy and they love each other dearly.

The Denali's finally moved here for good. We had to move the wall further out to make room to build more buildings to house everyone. But all is good. My family just keeps growing. I went from no brothers and sisters to hundred of them and I am ecstatic.

The brothers hardly ever bother us unless they want an update and I'm sure that has to do with Caius keeping Aro off our back, which I am grateful for.

"Are you happy, my angel?" Carlisle asked and he wrapped his arms around me. I smiled and answered.

"Happier than I"ve ever been in my life, my love," I told him as I kissed him hard and passionately.

The Final End…


End file.
